Of Apples & Oranges, Lords & Ladies
by Paul Sholander
Summary: At a bake sale to raise bits for library renovations, Rainbow Dash and Applejack receive offers from Manehattanites that could change their lives. Will they accept? Are they everything they hoped for? And how far are they willing to go to get them?
1. A Storm is Baking

There was nothing spectacular, as far as he could tell. Bryan Ace had been the talent scout for the Manehattan Aeronautics Academy for the better part of two decades, during which he'd compiled some of the finest flyers in Equestria. With him as head talent scout, the academy had gone from mid-level threat, an underdog and not much more, to one of the premier flight schools in the first division. He'd garnered respect and admiration for bringing in the best flyers from all over to join the academy's team. If he was in a restaurant and some pony recognized him, he didn't have to pay for his meal. It's been a good while since he paid for a meal, long enough for forget how to exactly pay for one, and wasn't about to let that all slip away.

If only there was some talent around. The current academy team had just placed third in their league(upset in the semis, nothing he could've done about that), but most of them were graduating. The crop of underclassmen was good, but not great. Riding the bench during meets was no way to build their athletics up, but that's what they did while the seniors flew circles around the competition. It was Bryan's duty this offseason to find some flyers who could help them win now. The few he saw in surrounding towns could be built into a team to be reckoned with, but none of them were good enough to build a championship team around.

That's what brought him to Ponyville today. It was the next stop on his list, and a place where he had found considerable talent before. Two former league MVPs had come from Ponyville, but so far he didn't see any pegasi that could be more than second string. They moved fast, but seemed to be stuck in second gear. Even the fastest ones couldn't maintain that speed for more than a minute. Races were not one minute in length. Bryan knew this, but didn't have the heart to tell these poor kids that they weren't good enough.

"Nice performance. I've got your times, and if you're good enough to compete with the best in Equestria we'll keep in touch." In his years of telling flyers that they weren't going to make the team, he'd found this was the best way. Let's them know that there were simply better flyers in Equestria, rather than they aren't any good.

The afternoon session was coming to a close. Three more pegasi had to go, and then he would go into town to review his notes. Take a look at the best of the group and compile a makeshift team out of them, the recruits from the other towns and the current team. If the rest of his scouting trip is fruitless, he'll at least be able to contact some of the ponies here. He didn't think that would be the case, or at least he hoped not.

He had barely hit the stopwatch to time the eleventh trial when a rainbow trail crossed through the course. That whoosh sound, a sound he hadn't heard all session long, accompanied it. It was the first instance all afternoon than anything on that field had traveled fast enough to cause sound in its wake.

"Wow." Bryan let out under his breath. It was the first instance all afternoon that anything on that field traveled fast enough to bring that reaction out of him. He didn't think it was audible, but some of the participants that were huddled around him heard. If his 'nice performance' speech before didn't break their spirits, that sure did.

Though the rainbow and the pony attached to it weren't part of the trials that afternoon, it certainly was the fastest thing on the field. The fastest thing Bryan had seen in his current scouting trip. He was certain that if that pony were to join the Manehattan Aeronautics Academy for the upcoming season, they would be unstoppable.

It seemed like a fleeting dream, though. He cared for these kids, despite having only known them for a few hours. If he were to ask who that was, it would crush them; that a pony who wasn't even part of the trials could just zoom by and be practically given a spot. They would have to understand that this pony was undoubtedly better than them. Their expressions when the rainbow went by matched Bryan's.

He wouldn't have to ask, though. One of the participants brought their face out of a stupor long enough to shockingly speak the name:

"Rainbow Dash."

Number eleven finished their run. The remaining three completed the course. They were noticeably deflated, and who wouldn't be in this situation, but it is commendable that they flew the course at all. There was nothing spectacular, as far as Bryan could tell. What could be spectacular after witnessing this 'Rainbow Dash.' All he knew was, if this 'Rainbow Dash' could do that all the time, he might as well quit the scouting trip. His search was over.

He bid adieu to the crop of talent he had spent the afternoon working with. Not the cream of the crop, but he at least knew now who was that cream. Into Ponyville he went to compile notes regarding this group.

And to find this 'Rainbow Dash.'

* * *

><p>Luckily for him, his search would not only be fruitful, but short. Good, because he was a pony who enjoyed business and pleasure. Right now, it was all business. Getting to find this 'Rainbow Dash' was his top priority. After finding this 'Rainbow Dash' and getting them to join the academy team, it would be all pleasure. Winning seasons, league championships, awards, a raise and more accolades were in his future. He wouldn't have to remember how to pay for meals. But that was in the future. Right now, it was all business.<p>

As he walked into town, he saw a group surrounding what looked like the desert table in the academy's dining hall. It was indeed a desert table. Every pony around the table was partaking in a wide assortment of baked goods, all seeming to be composed with apples as the main ingredient. At least that's how they smelled. He would have to partake of one of those treats before he left. But that was in the future. Right now, it was all business.

From behind the table stood two ponies: the one on the right was a purple unicorn with a straight mane, the one on the left was a pink earth pony with a bouncy mane. The unicorn appeared to be more stoic and calm, while the earth pony was bouncy and appeared to have an abundance of energy. If any of the pegasi he saw before had that kind of energy, he would be bringing more than one back to Manehattan with him.

The two ponies running the stand greeted each pony that approached by name. Not a simple 'Hello' or 'Welcome' but along the lines of 'Hi Lily! Thanks for coming! How's your garden doing?' They appeared to have knowledge of every pony in line, and the line was probably fifty pony deep on each side. Surely, if his search for this 'Rainbow Dash' were to end soon, this was the best place to start. If he had the time, he would've gladly stood in line to greet the two and partake of their goods like a sensible pony. Right now, it was all business.

He approached the left side of the table, where the pink pony was. From next to the table, he could see her wearing blue and yellow socks with little tears running through them, particularly around the bottom of the hoof, and what appeared to be scorch marks. The pink pony turned to put the bits she received from her previous customer in a cart and caught him in the corner of her eye.

"Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie! Welcome to our bake sale! Is there something you need! Anything! Huh! Huh! Huh!" Her face was simultaneously in his and darting all over at the same time. He was as confused as he was frightened.

"What a minute! I don't think I know you, and I know every pony in Ponyville! Are you new in town! You must be new if I don't know you! How wonderful! I didn't think I'd meet a new friend today, but I did have my hopes up! What's your name! Where are you from! Did you come to buy some apple pie! Apple Danish! Cupcakes with apple icing! Huh! I just realized, if you're new in town that must mean you have no friends here! And if you don't have any friends here, then you must be lonely! And if you're lonely, that must mean…" She had said all that in a matter of ten seconds flat and was continuing to talk, her mouth showing no signs of stopping anytime soon. If the pegasi back at the academy could fly as fast as she was speaking, they would win every meet in a landslide. The unicorn was showing concern on her face as she pulled Pinkie Pie back. It took a moment for Bryan to regain his senses.

"Sorry about that. She gets that way around people she's never met. I'm Twilight Sparkle, and we're having a bake sale today to raise bits to refurnish our town library. Would you like to try some of our delicious apple products?" Twilight was much more bearable than Pinkie Pie.

"Sure, I'll buy something..." He would, after all he was more than happy to help a worthy cause. Just because he was an athletic coach doesn't mean he didn't care about academics as well. Right now, it was all business. "…but first I have a question. Do you happen to know a 'Rainbow Dash?'"

The question had startled the pink one. She began to speak again, and dart her head all around Bryan's. She moved much too quickly and sporadically. All Bryan heard was bits and pieces, which amounted to Rainbow being a prankster and changing her life in some way that he didn't quite understand. He was afraid to ask her how exactly 'Equestria was made.' She continued talking as she tended to customers, not noticing that Bryan and Twilight had moved away to talk quieter.

"Well, I'm sure Pinkie Pie can tell a much better story than I could, but Rainbow Dash is one of the best flyers in all of Equestria. Strong, Cool, Brave. The fastest flyer I've ever seen, able to clear a sky in ten seconds flat and the first and only Pegasus to create a Sonic Rainboom." So, the legends were true. A pony was able to travel fast enough to create a sonic boom and a rainbow all in one. That's all he needed to hear.

"And, one of my best friends here in Ponyville." Icing on the cake, but loyalty is important to the team. It's better than bringing in a loner that he hopes will mesh well.

"That's all I need to hear. Now, where is Rainbow Dash?" Upon hearing this, the pink one turned to speak again. Bryan braced for the worst, but she spoke much calmer.

"Oh, Dashie ran home! I think she'll be coming back! Hehehe!"

"Well, in that case Miss Twilight, I'd like to give you this." He couldn't wait for this Rainbow Dash to show up, and he certainly didn't want to ask Pinkie Pie when/if Dash would come back. Even if he did, he probably wouldn't be able to decipher it amongst all that she would say. He wanted to get back right away to the academy to tell the athletics department about the pony that was going to help them dominate this season. Bryan pulled out his card that had the address of the school on it and handed it to Twilight Sparkle. "It's my card for the Manehattan Aeronautics Academy. We'd love to have this Rainbow Dash on our flight team."

"Oh wow! I'm sure Rainbow Dash would be honored to join your flight team." The sincerity in her voice seemed genuine.

"Tell this Rainbow Dash to come by tomorrow at noon for a full tour of the academy. And, give me one of those caramel apple cupcakes." After all, he did say he was going to buy something from them. While caramel apple cupcakes weren't exactly part of the diet that the members of the team go through, he figured it was alright to treat himself right now. He had just recruited the best flyer he'd seen in the past decade. He could head back to Manehattan to prepare for this Rainbow Dash's visit tomorrow. He quit his scouting trip. His search was over.

His business was over.

Right now, it was time for pleasure. Make that two caramel apple cupcakes.

* * *

><p>There was something spectacular, as far as she could tell. Pinkie Pie was always excited to bake. Even though it had been her life for most of the time she'd been in Ponyville, she still looked at each baking job like it was a treat to do.<p>

Especially today! One of her best-est-ee best friends, Twilight Sparkle, had asked her if she could help put on a bake sale. Twilight lived in the library in town, and through all her studying had managed to cause a lot of wear and tear to the inside. A little wear here and there doesn't hurt, until she rubbed her bookshelf too close and all those little wears and tears compiled and the bookshelf collapsed. Looking around, it seemed the rest of the furniture was on that same level. She needed some help to get the library back in top condition.

Pinkie Pie looked at a bake sale like a party that the whole town could take part in. To plan a party that big, though, she would need assistance from some of her best-est-ee best friends. Twilight had agreed to help, seeing as it was her studying habits that caused them to have the bake sale in the first place. Rainbow Dash agreed as well. Applejack would be supplying the apples. Rarity was in Trottingham delivering her lastest shipment of dresses and Fluttershy had many animal patients to see today. So, it would be a four pony baking team.

She put on her socks and came downstairs to the kitchen. Her blue and yellow socks matched her cutie mark. The colors still popped, having been made three days earlier by Rarity. It was easily the fifteenth pack she'd had made this year. Despite that, this was the first pack that she had that resembled her cutie mark. She started to get the sugar and flour ready before her friends showed up. It was slightly past the time they were supposed to show up when Applejack came by with a cart full of apples.

"Hey Pinkie Pie." Applejack came in hospitable as always, but the tone in her voice told that she had no time to chat. Less talking, more baking. "Brought the apples for the bake sale. A whole cart full."

"Oooooo, they look delicious. I can't wait to make some treats with them. Throw on an apron and let's get baking!"

"Uhh, listen Pinkie Pie, Ah hate tell you now, but Ah can't stay and help. Ah gotta go to Manehattan tomarra for business for the farm."

"Ohh, that's too bad. But, I bet your business thingy will be fun, too." Pinkie never stayed dejected for long.

"But…" Applejack pulled five apples out of her satchel and laid them on the counter, "…Ah would like your expert opinion on which of these here taste the best. If Ah'm going all the way to Manehattan, Ah wanna make sure Ah bring only the best of mah crop."

"Oh boy, I would love to be a taste tester." It's true, she did love the thought of being a taste tester. To have her tongue be the deciding factor in a 'Which-food-tastes-the-best' contest was a secret little fantasy that she wondered if it would ever come true. She would've rather have it be for cakes or pies or chocolate or cupcakes, but this'll do. As she ate each one, she gave Applejack her honest opinion.

"Number 1 is very crunchy but a little dry. Number 2 is sweety sweet sweety and has quite a flavor to it that I didn't think was even possible in an apple. Number 3 is juicy and red and wonderful all over. Number 4 is, well, let's not mention number 4. But Number 5 is tasty and makes my Pinkie tongue tingle."

"Eh, so, you picked…Number…5?"

"Well, Number 5 was goody, but I'd have to say Number 2 did the best. She's the queen of the apple eating contest!" Pinkie thought the queen deserved a party, but from inside her belly was no place for one.

"Number 2. That's from the Northeast fields. Okay. Ah'm sorry to run like this Pinkie Pie, but if all goes right tomarra, ole' Sweet Apple Acres will be doin' plenty business this season." Applejack left out the back way she came and galloped back to her farm. Whatever it was, Pinkie thought, it had to be of super-duper importance to drag Applejack from helping here. No need to fear, though, for as soon as Applejack was out the door, Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash came through the main entranceway to the kitchen.

"Hi, Pinkie Pie. Thank you so much for helping me raise bits to get the library back in order." Twilight was as polite as she always was. That's what Pinkie Pie liked about her.

"I still can't believe you studied so hard that you broke the furniture." Rainbow Dash put in her two bits.

"I told you to just read the books Twilight, not hit them. Now, who's ready to get baking!"

"I'm ready. Wait, where's Applejack?" Twilight, always so inquisitive and observant, other reasons Pinkie Pie liked her.

"Oh, she had to run back to Sweet Apple Acres. Said she had a big day tomorrow in Manehattan."

"That's okay, we can pick up the slack. Pinkie Pie, toss me an apron!" Rainbow Dash was getting in the zone.

It was easy to bake all the treats. Twilight read the instructions and measured all the ingredients, with her organizing skills. Rainbow Dash mixed all the ingredients as fast as she could, which was even faster than Pinkie Pie could. As for Pinkie Pie, with a big chunk of the work being taken care of, was able to add much more love and smiles to the batches than she could without help. It's what made her baked goods good.

Pinkie Pie wore her socks while she baked. They were just so comfy the way Rarity made them that she couldn't help but wear them everywhere, even in the kitchen. As she mixed in her special ingredients, she couldn't help but get cake batter on her socks. As she was also the one to take the treats out of the oven, the cake batter would get heated and bake along with everything else. As it cooked, it caused little scorch marks to appear around the mounds of crust that were forming until, after rounds of treats were made, they hardened and chipped off her socks. The burnt crumbs left little tears in her socks, resembling the tears in her other 14 packs that Rarity had made her.

"Pinkie, you're socks. They've got burn marks on them." Twilight had noticed. She really had a good eye as far as Pinkie could tell.

"Oh, you know I didn't really notice." It's true, she hadn't. Pinkie had always garnered mounds of batter on her hoof-sies as she baked throughout her time at Sugarcube Corner, and she found that if she tried to wash it off during a baking session, more would just get on them later. Best thing she could do was waiting until the end to wash. The fact that she wore socks over them didn't register in her pink head that she should change her habits.

"Pinkie, you're going to ruin those socks if you use them to take things out of the oven." The fact that this happened to the other 14 packs of socks had not clicked in Pinkie's head yet. She just thought all socks eventually got like that.

"Watch, let me show you how it's done." Rainbow Dash took the next batch of cupcakes between her bare hooves and pulled them out of the over, still hot, and managed to put them on the stove-top without even wincing.

"Wow, how'd you do that without even thinking?" Twilight asked Rainbow.

"It's nothing Twilight, but then again, you aren't the strongest, coolest, most brave pony in all of Ponyville."

"Really, Rainbow Dash, the bravest?" Twilight was unsure of her boast.

"Duh, Twilight. Haven't you seen some of the things I've stood up to on our adventures."

As soon as Rainbow Dash said that she was the strongest, coolest, most brave pony, Pinkie Pie got an idea. An awful idea. Pinkie Pie got a wonderful, awful idea.

"Are you brave enough to hear a ghost story, Dashie?" Pinkie inquired. There were only a few batches left to be put in the over. They had time for a quick little joke.

"Pfft, a ghost story, please Pinkie Pie. Every pony knows that ghost stories aren't real, and most of them aren't that scary."

"This one's real. And spoooooooooooooky." Pinkie knew it was all in good fun. Time to see if she could prove Rainbow Dash wrong. Dim the lights, draw the blinds and give Pinkie the flashlight. It's ghost story time.

"Once, there was a rainbow pony who came into a bakery to help make some cupcakes with her pink pony friend." Pinkie was going on the fly, and wanted Rainbow to feel like she's in story. It's always much scarier if you feel like you're in the ghost story. And she wanted to give Dashie a little scare.

"The rainbow pony had gone down to the basement to get an ingredient for their cupcakes. There, she noticed bodies of other mares thrown in a pile. The pink pony came down and told the rainbow pony that she was the special ingredient." Dash was maintaining her cool, but seemed noticeably shaken.

"Then, the pink pony chains her to the wall and pulls out her knife, brandishing it over the rainbow pony's torso." Nice addition, Twilight. It sure helped scaring someone when you had help. Dash's coolness dropped by a good 20%, Pinkie noticed. It was so much fun to give her a little scare.

"The pink pony started cutting into the rainbow pony. First her legs, then her arms, then her wings, and finally, her head. Muwahahahaha." Dashie started trembling, her face quivering, wings shaking. She really needed to end the story good.

"The pink pony went back upstairs and finished her cupcakes." Good save, Twilight. Pinkie had no idea where to go, but now she had the perfect ending. If this didn't push Dashie out of being so brave, nothing would.

"A customer came by and told her the cupcakes tasted delicious. She asked what the secret ingredient was. And the pink pony said….(dramatic pause)….RAINBOW DASH! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The sound of thunder caused by some trays falling was a great touch by Twilight.

Rainbow Dash let out a huge scream and flew out of Sugarcube Corner as fast as she could. As soon as she was out the door, Pinkie Pie and Twilight collapsed in a fit of the giggles.

"Wow, hehehe, I don't think I've ever seen Dashie fly that fast before, hehehe." Pinkie saw the direction she was headed. It was through the town square, past a field where there was a group of pegasi flying around and eventually making it back to her home.

"Hahaha, that was a good laugh, Pinkie. It was so funny to see Dash scared like that. Ahh, oh well, she'll come back later and we'll tell her how silly she was."

"Hehehe…" Ding! "…heheheOOOOO! The last batch of cupcakes is done. Let's bring them out and get this bake sale started."

* * *

><p>The bake sale had a tremendous turn-out. Nearly every pony in Ponyville came out to trade some bits for some of Pinkie Pie's signature sugary indulgences if it meant they could help out Twilight. Aside from Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle knew every pony in Ponyville. They would have conversations with every pony and catch up with friends that they don't see as often as they'd like to. It was like a party that the whole town was invited for.<p>

As Pinkie was creating good business, as she wouldn't be able to keep Sugarcube Corner running if she wasn't able to generate some sort of income for Mr. and Mrs. Cake, she turned at one point to see a pony standing on the side of the table, rather than in line. He was a burly pegasus, with a graying buzzcut, whistle around his neck and a determined look on his face. She gave him her pinkiest Pinkie Pie hello when she realized something else about this pegasus.

She didn't recognize him.

Pinkie got partway through offering her friendship to him and a party in his honor by Twilight Sparkle reminding her that she still had customers. Pinkie continued to offer him a party while asking Seafoam about her pet rock and handing her an apple strudel and taking her bits and giving her change and proceeding to talk to Colgate about her modern art piece she displays in her window. All seemingly at the same time. Pinkie Pie was as good at multitasking as Rarity was at making dresses.

By the time she finished with Colgate, the burly pegasus asked about Rainbow Dash. Pinkie overheard and immediately went back into welcoming mode to tell him everything she knew about Rainbow Dash.

"Rainbow Dash is the best flyer in all of Ponyville! No wait, Cloudsdale, too! No! Wait! In all of Equestria! No to mention one of the best pranksters in all of Equestria! Did I mention that Dashie is the best prankster! Ooo! Ooo! Or the time that Rainbow Dash made me into the pony I am today! I never would've gotten my cutie mark and discovered parties if it weren't for Rainbow Dash and the Sonic Rainboom! Just Zoom! Zoom! Poom! And there I was! Went from an itty-bitty-little-wittle-twinkie-pinkie into the party pony you see today! And that's how Equestria was made! And then the dragon! Ooo! Or the time we found these dogs that hunt diamonds and stole our friend Rarity! Rainbow Dash wasn't scared! Dashie just went full steam ahead into those mines! Turned a corner! Then another corner! Then we hit a…"

Pinkie had been moved again by Twilight to her end of the table and her next customer. Twilight and the pegasus moved over a few feet to talk. Maybe Twilight knew this pony? Huh, guess he wasn't so lonely. Oh well, she was still planning a party for him anyway.

The burly pony asked where Rainbow Dash was. Pinkie Pie told him that Dashie went home and had a little giggle about it. If she wasn't so deep into conversations with Twist and Firefly simultaneously she would've elaborated. After all, she can't do everything at once.

The pegasus left, after giving Twilight something, and the two continued with the bake sale which went better than expected. Twilight had more than enough bits to refurnish the library. Before she left, she asked Twilight about what he had given her. Pinkie's mind was no longer occupied by other conversations; she could concentrate fully on Twilight.

"Apparently, he was a scout for the Manehattan Aeronautics Academy flight team. It seems he's interested in having Rainbow Dash join his team."

"Oooh! If it's a big Manehattan flight school then that must be a big deal. I bet Rainbow Dash would make a great addition to their team. I'm so happy for her." She had heard little remarks about flight schools like that from Mrs. Cake, who took an interest in the competitions.

"Huh! You know what Rainbow Dash deserves?" Twilight wouldn't have time to answer. "A PARTY! Oh, so that's three parties I have to plan. First, the party for that new pegasus pony. Then the one for Rainbow Dash getting into flight school. And one for Number 2, the apple eating contest queen! Oh, busy busy busy!"

Pinkie Pie hopped off back to Sugarcube corner. Parties don't plan themselves.

* * *

><p>There was nothing spectacular, as far as she could tell. Applejack had seen her little sis try out so many different things to get her cutie mark. Singing, dancing, white water rafting, juggling, parkour. So seeing her jump rope now for her cutie mark was the next in a long line of inevitable failures for her.<p>

She envied Apple Bloom's energy. The filly put her all into everything she did to try to earn her cutie mark. The problem was, she didn't know how to do most of the things she tried. Apple Bloom didn't really have much coordination with the toy. Applejack wasn't sure how she had managed to tangle the rope around her left leg and right arm at the same time.

Applejack had an idea of what her lil sis's talent might be. But it was better not to tell her, she knew. Her cutie mark was something for her to find on her own. That made it special; made it one you can truly call your own. Still, at times like this, she thought about at least giving her a little nudge in the right direction. It wouldn't be long before she and her friends, those crusaders, would try out spelunking or some such.

She had to protect her. She was the big sis.

"Apple Bloom, Ah really don't think that this here is quite working out. Maybe y'all should put that thar rope down and come help me in the apple cellar."

"Huh. You're right Applejack. Ah been jump ropin' fer hours now and still ain't got no cutie mark." Applejack could see she was noticeably upset.

"It's not your fault. Ah keep telling you not to try out things you're not so good at."

"Wha makes ya think that it's not my special talent. Maybe I just ain't jump roped enough yet." Applejack pointed out the rope serpentined around her torso. "Heh heh."

"Ah don't know why y'all keep trying every little niche you can think up in your silly little heads to earn that cutie mark. Why, look at me. Ah never went out on a limb and did anything like y'all are doing. No sir, no flower arrangin', no glass makin', no joustin'…" She could see ideas forming in her little sis's head. "…Nevermind. The point is, y'all should be embracing who you are, stead of trying to force yourself to be something that you just ain't."

"You're right Applejack. Huh! You said you needed help in the apple cellar. Maybe that's where my special talent is. Making apple cider, of course. It's so obvious." Apple Bloom ran towards the cellar as Applejack gave pursuit, trying to stop her lil sis from wrecking anything down there.

She pulled her lil sis away from the barrels where they kept a fresh supply of apple cider for such occasions. Pinkie Pie's been known to plan parties on a whim, so it's a good idea to keep some handy at all times. Applejack gave her her duty of sorting through the bushels she just brought in for any undesirable apples and separate them from the bunch. As she was coming out of the apple cellar to get back to her bucking, she saw something at the top of the stairs.

Something orange.

"Aunt Orange! Uncle Orange! Well, uh, howdy. What brings you all the way from Manehattan?" She still remembered the time she lived with them as a filly. Being so out of place in the big city. But, if she hadn't had found out what she wasn't, she never would've found out who she was.

"Well, hello, Applejack. It's nice to see you're keeping your, eh, farm so…tidy." Her Aunt Orange tried to feign sincerity. But Applejack knew that being out here in the country was not a place she was accustomed to.

"We come to you today with a business venture, if you'd be so kind as to accept." Uncle Orange was uppity as ever with his language. It was like listening to Rarity talk.

"Business venture? What'd y'all have in mind?" She hoped this wasn't some kind of prank on her and her country ways. Not that she thought her family would do such a thing, but she knew how the city folk looked down on her type.

"There is a new upscale restaurant opening up in Manehattan, The Apple of My Eye, run by one of our dear friends, Crepe Suzette."

"In addition to the standard fair, she wishes to incorporate a generous amount of apple based recipes into her repertoire." Applejack could barely get the gist of what her uncle was saying without getting irked by his constant use of fancy language. Why can't some ponies just talk normal like every pony else?

"And when she happened to mention that she was in need of a supplier, I told her that my niece was the proprietor of an orchard that carried such provisions." Again, the fancy talk was ruining the message.

"Miss Suzette would like to meet with you, tomorrow at noon, at the site of her new restaurant in Manehattan."

Applejack could at least figure out that part of the speech. She knew a good business deal when she heard one. Being able to supply a new restaurant in Manehattan would do wonders for publicity, not to mention the bits she could earn for ole' Sweet Apple Acres by signing the contract to be the sole apple provider.

"Well, golly. I don't know exactly what to say. Well, thank your Aunt and Uncle Orange!" She would've hugged them, but knew they would probably be against that sort of action. "You tell Crepe Suzette I'll see her tomarra." Her relatives turned to leave, apparently being nothing more than messengers on this occasion. She was excited about tomorrow, and was about to return to the apple cellar to see what damage Apple Bloom had caused, when her uncle dropped this on her.

"Oh, and dear, do be so kind as to bring Crepe Suzette a sampling of apples for her to taste. A cart will do."

Problem.

Applejack could buck a bushel of apples lickity-split, but a whole cart? By tomorrow? And bring it all the way to Manehattan? She knew that it would take a while to get that by hooves anyway, but with a cart in tow, she'd have to wake up before sun-up to get there. She knew how bad she acted when sleep deprived. Twilight had told her. If she was to get this contract, she would have to be well-rested. With the afternoon wearing thin, that would only leave her a few hours to buck the cart full.

As she went into the cellar, her head starting to spin from what she was thinking, she saw Apple Bloom with a big pile of apples next to her.

"Apple Bloom, Ah told y'all to only take out the bad ones."

"But those are the bad ones."

Big problem.

If Apple Bloom didn't mess up, which was possible, but not a risk she was willing to take at this point, then a good portion of the crop was suddenly tainted. She couldn't very well take those to Crepe Suzette if she wanted to get the contract. But how could she tell which field was tainted? And if one field was tainted, what about the others? She couldn't very well take a batch that was sub-par to a fancy place like Manehattan and expect to impress them.

Good thing for her, there was about of cart full of apples that Apple Bloom had decided were good enough. Whew, she might not have to worry at all about those bad apples until tomorrow when she gets back.

Then Applejack remembered that she had to deliver those apples to Sugarcube Corner. And after delivering, she had to help Twilight and her five friends make treats for a bake sale for the library.

REALLY BIG PROBLEM!

With those apples being used, she had to buck a new cart full of apples by sunset, after she did the baking and bake sale. Or, she thought, she could deliver the apples first, then head home and buck, then come back to help out as much as she could. That would be what she would do. She'd hate to disappoint her friends, but these were extenuating circumstances.

Then she realized that if she bucked all those apples, she'd definitely be tired. If she had to hand out bake goods, or worse, bake, when she was tired, it might cause bigger problems. Twilight had told her such.

Nope, she would have to miss the bake sale and devote the rest of her day to bucking.

But, how could she know which field had the tainted ones? And which one had the absolute best apples? She'd need to have a taste test. But who had the most refined taste buds of her friends, the ones most like that of a Manehattanite?

Rarity.

As much as she couldn't stand her attitude sometimes, she admitted to herself that only Rarity could help her now. She was gonna be at Sugarcube Corner anyway to help out. And no matter what her snooty opinion would be, she'd buck from the fields that Rarity considered the best. Her uppity-ness had finally found a use, as far as Applejack was concerned.

Before departing, she made a quick run to each of the five main fields: The Northwest, Northeast, Southeast, South and Southwest fields. She bucked one apple from each field and put them in satchel. Apple Bloom helped her pull the apples out of the cellar and hitch the cart to her. She was off, as fast as she could, to Sugarcube Corner.

* * *

><p>Applejack got to the back entrance, where all delivers go, a little past the time when she was supposed to arrive. She walked in and looked for Rarity. She was nowhere to be found. Rarity was always so annoying prim and proper, she figured she be there on time. Unless she was being 'fashionably late.' She couldn't wait if she wanted to get everything done.<p>

Pinkie Pie greeted her in typical Pinkie Pie fashion. She was someone who knew food, or at least sweets, but seemed to always give everything two hooves up. With things being what they were, she'd have to do.

She told Pinkie she was sorry she couldn't stay and explained why. Then she pulled out the 5 apples and asked for Pinkie to judge them. She did it in typical Pinkie Pie style, which left her confused as to which one won, but she at least now knew that Number 4, the South fields, was the tainted batch. Pinkie declared Number 2, the Northeast fields, the winner, and suggested throwing it a party. No time for that. She thanked Pinkie Pie and left as fast as she had arrived. No pony else was there, which made her feel even worse for abandoning her.

She made it back to Sweet Apple Acres faster than she thought she would. She went into the barn, hitched a cart to herself, galloped to the Northeast fields, watched the Cutie Mark Crusaders fail at limboing, which didn't take long, and started bucking. Big Macintosh finished his quota for the day, and when Applejack explained about Manehattan, he helped as much as he could. The Crusaders helped as much as they could, before Scootaloo turned it into Cutie Mark Crusader fencing with the broken branches.

Applejack wasn't sure how they managed to do it, but they got a whole cart full of Northeast field apples done by sun down. She was sure spent. Getting to sleep wouldn't be a problem tonight, as she practically nodded off in the fields. She went back to the barn, stopped Apple Bloom from trying to earn her cutie mark by eating fire, and went to bed. She'd be awake before sun-up, taking those apples to Manehattan to get that contract from Crepe Suzette.

* * *

><p>There was nothing spectacular, as far as she could tell. The schematics that the contractor pony showed her had only the bare necessities. That's all she wanted. She didn't have the bits to get any larger bookcases or newer editions of books. And she didn't want to tell Princess Celestia that she damaged the library that she sent her to.<p>

Dear Princess Celestia, I broke some things. Can you please send some bits? 3,000 ought to do. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.

She couldn't disappoint the Princess like that.

Twilight was surprised how it happened, actually. Rainbow Dash said the she studied so hard she broke her bookcase. All she did was brush against it as she picked up her copy of Winter Weather Wonders: Rain and Snow and Sleet and Hail. She had been meaning to brush up on the extreme ends of the water cycle. Now she got to brush up on carpentry.

As she brushed against the case, the wall collapsed, more or less. Her constant shuffling of books on and off the shelves, along with overloading certain shelves with similar materials when she had cramming sessions to do, and the constant knocking of the bookcases by her and her friends, especially Pinkie Pie. It seemed her simple brushing against it was the straw that broke the pony's back.

Looking around, she noticed the other bookcases were worn as well. Not to mention her desks. She didn't think studying could actually do that. But when the contractor told her how much it would cost, she considered making due with her worn library wares.

But that wasn't Pinkie Pie style. She happened to mention her problem to Pinkie Pie while at Fluttershy's one day for breakfast, and Pinkie Pie immediately started coming up with ways to get her the bits to refurnish her library. Only one was illegal in any way. She eventually mentioned the idea of a bake sale, since she and Twilight knew every pony in Ponyville and those ponies would be more than happy to help Twilight in exchange for sweets.

When Twilight mentioned how much they needed to raise, though, Pinkie deflated. Luckily, Fluttershy offered to help bake. They were sure that Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Rarity would help as well. With all six of them baking, they could end up with enough bits to refurnish the library twice over.

The day of the bake sale arrived. Fluttershy, however, had a heavy workload with a lot of animals coming in needing her expertise. Rarity had sold a line of clothes to a boutique in Trottingham and away delivering them. So, it would be a four pony baking team.

She had waited a bit longer at her library home than she would've wanted to. Rainbow Dash was supposed to meet her, but never showed up. Uggh, maybe she's just running late. If she left now, she would just make it to Sugarcube Corner on time. She didn't want to be late.

But she was. By a minute or two anyway. It wasn't like she'd not be allowed in for being the littlest bit behind schedule. She was a few feet away from Sugarcube Corner when she saw Applejack going in the back to deliver the apples. Before she had a chance to wave hello, Rainbow Dash came diving in front of her.

"Where've you been, Rainbow Dash? You were supposed to meet me at my home a while ago."

"Sorry, Twi. Clearing the skies took a bit longer than usual."

"Rainbow Dash, not being able to clear the sky fast as lightning?" Twilight was indeed puzzled by her statement. Could Rainbow have forgotten she was supposed to show up and help them? Could she have been hanging out with other friends? Nah, she's too loyal for that. It took a few seconds of searching in her head before coming to the obvious conclusion.

"You were taking a nap, weren't you?" Rainbow Dash's cheeky smile told her she had gotten it right.

"Eh he he…Let's go help Pinkie Pie, shall we."

Twilight and Rainbow Dash walked into the kitchen and found Pinkie Pie alone in her socks, sorting out her baking utensils. Pinkie told them that Applejack had to run to get ready for a big trip to Manehattan tomorrow. No matter, thought Twilight. The three of them could still get enough baking done. She wasn't out to get rich, just make enough to replace a few new bookcases.

For a while, things were going smooth. Twilight was the organizer of the group, playing to her strengths. As they were approaching the number that they had agreed upon would be enough to get her the bits necessary, she went over to Pinkie Pie to see if she could help her. Watching Pinkie take the cupcakes out of the oven, with her socks on, Twilight noticed the batter on her socks. As she was taking another batch out, the batter had hardened to the point it chipped off, causing a slight hole with a little scorch mark to appear. One would be enough to catch her eye, but there were roughly 20 different little holes and scorches.

After drawing this to their attention, Rainbow Dash pulled the next tray out sans oven mitts of any kind. Twilight commented on her strength in doing it, causing Dash to brag about her bravery. Pinkie Pie then began to set the atmosphere for a ghost story, in an attempt to test Dash's medal.

While it started off a little darker and grittier than she imagined, especially since this was sweet lovable Pinkie Pie spewing these tales, she remembered her first sleepover. How she told a ghost story that scared Rarity and Applejack. It was all in good fun then, so she wanted it to be good fun now as well. When it appeared Pinkie Pie had hit a wall, she jumped in to continue scaring Rainbow Dash. Her little addition scared Rainbow Dash more than she thought it would.

Pinkie's story ended on a dramatic note. It had scared her a little, but she knew it wasn't a real story, just all good fun. After all, she helped write it. Rainbow Dash, however, ended up bolting for her home as soon as the story concluded. The last time she saw Rainbow Dash fly that fast, she was attempting the Sonic Rainboom. Twilight hadn't thought that Dash, the bravest pony she knew, would get freaked out so much. Every pony gets scared sometimes, though. Maybe later she'd ask what happened, because after all, it was just good fun.

Pinkie Pie took the last batch of cupcakes out of the oven, which scared Twilight a little bit given the content of their ghost story, and they headed towards the town square. No sooner had she finished putting up the banners and getting the tables set up did Pinkie's shouting, or what Twilight believed to be her inside voice, begin to gather a crowd. Just about every pony in Ponyville had showed up, and any stragglers would show up before the day was through.

Twilight was enjoying herself. She got to talk to every pony about their day and what they were up to. All that time studying, to the point that it was detrimental to her furniture, had meant that her social life was virtually nil recently. This appeared to be the silver lining to that dark cloud that was her library falling under disrepair.

* * *

><p>As she finished up with Honeysuckle, she noticed Pinkie Pie was talking very fast to a big, light-green pegasus with a graying buzzcut and whistle round his neck. Twilight had never seen him before, but the was Pinkie was talking, it seemed like she knew him pretty well. She recognized some of the things Pinkie Pie was saying. It was what Pinkie had said to her when Twilight first got to Ponyville. Pinkie Pie gave her quite a spiel, and she's certain that if she hadn't run out of the room after she burned her mouth on the hot sauce, Pinkie could've gone on for hours.<p>

The burly pegasus was already showing facial signs of discomfort.

"Uh, Pinkie, your line's getting kind of long. How about I talk to this customer?" She pulled Pinkie Pie aside to talk to this pegasus. While he was technically out of line, the fact that he was new to Ponyville, as evidenced by Pinkie, was enough to let that slide in Twilight's eyes. Pinkie Pie was still giving her 'Welcome to Ponyville' speech while tending to her next two customers. Like her Pinkie Sense, Twilight still had no idea how Pinkie can seemingly carry on several conversations at once.

Twilight introduced herself to the new pegasus, informing him of the bake sale to raise bits for the library. It was best to be open with customers, or at least that's what she read. Might as well start now. He stated that he would buy one of the treats, which she was happy with, but first he asked about Rainbow Dash. Pinkie Pie interjected, telling about how Rainbow Dash got her her cutie mark. If he was befuddled before by Pinkie Pie, this wouldn't help. She pulled him aside and told him honestly what she knew about Rainbow Dash, one of her closest and dearest friends. She still mentioned that Rainbow Dash was brave, even though no more than two hours ago she had seen her fly near the speed of sound to get away from a ghost story. The pegasus seemed pleased.

He asked where Rainbow Dash was. Pinkie had mentioned the Dash went home and had a chuckle about it. Twilight would admit it's pretty humorous that Dash would be so scared from that ghost story that she and Pinkie made up on the spot, but it'd be easier not to go into it with the new pegasus. He gave Twilight a card that said he was from a flight school in Manehattan and told her to tell Rainbow to visit tomorrow at noon. She had never heard of the academy, but if this pegasus was from a major school and wanted Rainbow Dash on the team, it must've been a great honor. She was happy for her friend.

"Don't worry sir, I'll get this to Rainbow Dash as soon as I can."

He bought one caramel apple cupcake, then one more, and left. Twilight went back to the bake sale. An hour later it was over, and they had raised 3,570 bits. The refurnishing would only cost roughly 2,750 bits. Whatever was extra, she made sure would go to good use. She and Pinkie Pie took down all the streamers and tables and assorted things Pinkie Pie used to make the atmosphere more festive.

Pinkie Pie asked about the pegasus, and Twilight explained as much as she gathered from their talk. Pinkie was also happy for her good friend Rainbow Dash. She went hopping off, remarking about parties she had to plan for that pegasus, and now Rainbow Dash for getting into that academy, and for some apple eating contest queen. Oh, Pinkie Pie.

She prepared to bring the bits to the contractor pony, took down and folded the last banner, and low and behold, who should appear next to her…

Rainbow Dash.

* * *

><p>There was nothing spectacular, as far as she could tell. Rainbow Dash knew that she wouldn't be late for her baking appointment with her friends. She would do anything for her friends. Even if the reasons they were having the bake sale were kind of odd. Twilight, who did nothing but study all day, ended up breaking a bookcase and needed to raise bits to replace it, as well as a few other pieces that were breaking down. She didn't even think it was possible to study that hard. Twilight pulled it off, though.<p>

Her penchant for enjoying a nap now and then almost got her into trouble, though. Her afternoon snooze went a little longer than she planned. All she had to do was move the clouds over the athletic field. She didn't know why. No one was using it today, as far as she knew. But, she still had to go over there and get it done.

Ten. Seconds. Flat.

As she was finishing, she saw a few pegasi flying heading in that direction. But, she was sure no pony was using it today, and guessed that they were flying through to get somewhere else. Despite her quick work, she still ended up arriving late. Napped about 20% longer than she thought she did.

She managed to fly into Ponyville and get to Sugarcube Corner just as Twilight was getting there. She knew she was supposed to meet Twilight at her home, and tried to reason while she was late without mentioning that she was sleeping. Twilight saw through her. Sometimes, she wished Twilight wasn't such an egghead.

Rainbow Dash brought her in to the kitchen to avoid going into deeper conversation about her sleeping habits. As they said hello to Pinkie, still wearing socks, her latest fashion addiction that she hasn't seemed to break yet, Twilight noticed Applejack wasn't there. Pinkie mentioned a business venture in Manehattan. If Applejack could blow them off, she wondered how mad they would've been if she had slept threw a little bit of their kitchen duties. Probably a lot, since Manehattan usually means big things.

Dash was in charge of mixing ingredients, since she was the fastest. Twilight organized and Pinkie Pie did Pinkie Pie things. While wearing her socks. By the end, the fact that she wore her socks while handling the oven bothered Twilight for some reason. To gauge Twilight's reaction to a more ludicrous kitchen etiquette, she pulled the next tray out of the over with her bare hooves. Burned a little more than she thought, but she held it together. She had to project herself as the bravest pony in Ponyville.

She boasted a little. Not to toot her own horn, but if someone asked her about how tough she is, she had to let them know exactly how tough she was. Pinkie Pie then dimmed the lights and drew the blinds, talking about seeing how brave she was with a ghost story. Rainbow Dash knew she could handle a ghost story, especially whatever Pinkie Pie's idea of a scary story was. 'The cupcake didn't have enough icing to cover all of it!' she thought.

She was half right. Pinkie Pie's story started out with cupcakes. Then it took a weird left turn. Really weird. And then Dash started to lose her cool.

It wasn't the gore of the story that got to her. She could handle gore. Back at Junior Speedster Flight Camp, some of them would routinely get together to see who could tell the grossest story. She had come up with some pretty nasty ones herself. It was the fact that Pinkie Pie was telling this particularly twisted tale.

She was the only one who had seen Pinkie Pie's 'friends' right before her surprise party. Pinkie Pie was always friendly, but she seemed to be very attached to her. There were times when Dash was certain that Pinkie Pie pursued her. And Pinkie always found out where she was. And Pinkie always seemed to be the most 'unstable' amongst her friends. She always had a sneaking suspicion that something was not quite right about her good friend. So, in the back of her mind, in one dark corner, it seemed possible that this cupcakes story might be true. That fact that Twilight, the smartest of her friends, was contributing to this twisted tale only made it more likely that it was true.

Pinkie's laughter after she finished her story, with that horrible "RAINBOW DASH" and the thunder that accompanied it, finally broke her. She couldn't take it anymore and had to get out of that bakery. !

This might have been the fastest she'd ever flown when not attempting to do a sonic rainboom. The faster she got back to her home, the better. She needed comfort right now. Straight through the town square she went before making an abrupt turn off the beaten path. It was faster if she went through the athletic fields to get home. There was no event there before, but as she was zooming by, she ended up going straight through what seemed like a flight practice. Straight past one colt with an eleven taped to his flank. If she had disrupted practice, she was sorry, but getting home was all she could think about.

* * *

><p>It took a few hours to calm down. She had realized that it was just a story. She had let a dark corner of her imagination roam free. As silly as she thought it was to have gone crazy over what was so obviously a made up story, she was a little irked at Pinkie Pie for actually getting her to lose her cool. While she could admit that it was a good prank, particularly if they pulled it on some pony else, she still was a bit mad at Pinkie Pie.<p>

She left her home, the dark clouds had passed(thanks, Cloud Kicker) and she flew back towards Ponyville. The field where she had flown through the practice was empty, but she'd worry about that when she have the chance. The bake sale was over in the town square, as she saw Twilight putting away the banner with a cart full of bits next to her.

"Hey Twilight, sorry about flying off like that and missing the bake sale." At least it wasn't Pinkie Pie she ran into. She almost couldn't deal with her right now.

"Oh Rainbow Dash, it's no problem. We all get a little scared sometimes."

"I wasn't scared! Pinkie's story reminded me I left my oven on back home." Lie now, she thought, explain later.

"And it took you three hours to turn it off?" Dang, Twilight's too smart for her to try to fool.

"Yes! So, it seemed you got enough bits."

"Yeah, we did. Enough to fix up the library's furniture and then some. The bake sale went really well. You even got a message." This confused Dash more than it intrigued her.

"A message, from who?"

"It was a scout from the Manehattan Aeronautics Academy. He asked for you to come to his office in Manehattan at noon tomorrow for a visit and possibly join their flight team."

Now Rainbow Dash knew what she flew threw before. That was obviously a scouting trip. That one colt she flew by, number eleven, was obviously on a run to see if he could make it. Compared to her, he probably wouldn't make it. She felt sorry if she ruined his shot, but she couldn't turn this down.

Soarin', one of her idols in the Wonderbolts, had attended a flight school like that when he was younger. If she wanted to have an 'in' with her lifelong heroes, being able to say she went through the same training as them could give them something to bond over.

"" she found herself bouncing like Pinkie Pie with joy for this opportunity.

"Well, I'm glad you like it. Pinkie Pie's already planning a party for you joining the team, and for the scout that was here, and for an apple eating contest queen." The last one made little sense to her. But, then again, it was Pinkie Pie.

"Now, I have to take these bits to the contractor so he can start rebuilding the bookcase tomorrow. Good night Rainbow Dash."

"Night Twilight."

For someone who liked to nap, Rainbow Dash would sure have a hard time sleeping tonight, waiting for her opportunity that awaited when Princess Celestia next rose the sun.


	2. Mares in Manehattan

Princess Celestia had barely risen the sun to begin the day when Applejack awoke. She made extra careful not to wake her lil sis while getting herself together for the trip to Manehattan. Waking Apple Bloom would do more harm than good. A few more hours in the day for her to do dangerous things trying to earn that darn cutie mark. Applejack wished her lil sis would earn it already just so she could stop trying so dang hard. Plus, if Apple Bloom was up and able, she would no doubt try to accom-pony her to Manehattan.

Applejack might not have minded it. Going to Manehattan brought back some bad memories, and they had affected her while she slept. She remembered feeling alone, frightened, and, worst of all, unwelcome. Having her lil sis there would do a great deal to make her feel more comfortable. But, then again, Apple Bloom would probably try sidewalk art and whatnot while in the big city, and having to keep her in line while attempting to close this deal was too much for her mind to bear right now.

The cart was still full from yesterday. No pesky critters had come by in the night to ruin her crop. The Northeast fields' apples. What Pinkie Pie decided was the absolute best. These would be the ones that Crepe Suzette would try and, hopefully, decide were satisfactory enough to use in her cooking.

She hitched herself up to the cart, loaded up a satchel with her usual supplies for just in case, and departed Sweet Apple Acres for Manehattan as the sun was rising. The trail brought back those memories form when she was a filly, trying as desperately to find herself then as Apple Bloom was trying now. She held her head high as she carried on, knowing that she had conquered her past, and wouldn't have the same experiences this time round. It took a good deal of walking, gingerly thanks to the cart and its overflowing contents, over the next couple of hours to finally reach her destination.

Manehattan.

* * *

><p>She wished her relative's directions were a bit better by the end of her journey. Her uncle's use of city terms, or as he would describe it, 'vernacular,' befuddled her to the point of getting on wrong streets on a number of occasions. By the time she found the address, no thanks to the city ponies who treated her like a child and even less thanks to the ones who scoffed at her and her cart of apples like she was beneath them, it was 5 minutes to noon. At least she could make a good impression by still being early.<p>

The address was conspicuous enough. It had a large banner on the front of it under the name of the building that stated 'Coming Soon.' The name itself was done up in large golden letters, with images of a beautiful eye and a pony's mouth about to eat an apple adorning the ends of the sign, in the same golden style. Fancy. On the right side of the building was an optometrist's that specialized in bifocals, which according to a window display were all the rage with the pony elite this season. To the building's left was a rather large, all colt flight school that also taught courses on flight mechanics. She never thought flying was a big a deal to have courses taught at some large school in order to do it correctly. Maybe that's how Rainbow Dash is so good at flying, she thought. And to think that she picks on Twilight so much for studying when there's courses taught on how to do what should come natural to her.

She made a note to herself to tell Rainbow Dash how ridiculous she thought it was.

Applejack went around the back and knocked at the door that she assumed was for deliveries. She was apparently correct, as a blue waiter pony with a fancy twirled mustache and fu-fu hair-do answered her.

"Ahh, you must be the pony who's here for the apple contract." There was a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "Grab a few and come on in."

A few? What in the hay did she bring a whole cart full for? Crepe Suzette better just be asking to taste a few first before asking for the rest later.

"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Bleu. Gordon Bleu. I am the maitre'd of The Apple of My Eye."

"Oh, Ah could've sworn by yer fancy do-dads that you was a waiter of some kind."

"Madame, I am the head waiter, if you wish to call it that. Such a crude name if you ask me." First the sarcasm, now the condescending speech. Applejack felt just like a filly again as he showed her into the main dining area, which was mighty bland. And empty. And not all that put together if you asked her.

"As you can see, we are currently finishing up with the construction of the dining area." Applejack imagined this is what Twilight must be going through now as he walked her over to the kitchen door to bring her in. "Crepe Suzette is through these doors and is in the process of finishing her recipes. All she needs now is a steady supply of apples, which I take it you are in charge of providing her."

"Bringing her the apples, that's me."

"Yes, quaint." Gordon Bleu was noticeably annoyed at Applejack's common ways. It's nothing Applejack can do about it. It twas the way she'd been raised all her life. She might be a simple country pony to these city types, but she worked hard to be the pony she is today and wasn't gonna let some blue maned pony make her feel otherwise.

"Crepe Suzette, the, uh, apple pony has arrived."

Applejack was a little overwhelmed by what she saw. In Ponyville, Sugarcube Corner was about the most advanced kitchen she'd encountered. Here, it was like stepping into a science fiction novel as far as she was concerned. Shiny things everywhere. So many buttons and dials and switches and do-dads and other smaller buttons and larger dials. Kitchen tools that looked like they could eat all the kitchen tools that Pinkie Pie usually uses. Foods that she never even knew existed, and could only guess was food, considering their location in a kitchen. The only thing she really recognized was the frying pans. And, according to the poster on the wall behind said pans, they were some sort of miracle pans, where foods didn't stick and they cooked faster.

It was scary. She didn't know how any pony could live like this.

Crepe Suzette was even more intimidating. If Applejack didn't see her acknowledge Gordon Bleu, she would've assumed she was some sort of model. Her mane was tidier than Rarity's, as well as her tail. Her hooves didn't show the slightest sign of wear from cooking, whereas Pinkie Pie scorched at least 10 packs of socks using her hooves in the kitchen. Her coat was also impeccably clean. Her coat was an orange crème color and her mane was lightish green with a vanilla swirl. At least that's what it looked like to her. These were colors she didn't have in her Hayola 8 crayon box as a filly.

"Good day. I am Crepe Suzette, owner and head chef. Your aunt and uncle spoke well of you Miss Applejack. Do not disappoint."

Gulp.

"Now, may I partake of your wares."

"My wha?"

"Apples, dear. You did bring the apples, did you not?" Her voice showed a little irritation. She figured Applejack was one of 'those' ponies.

"Oh, yep. Here ya go. The finest Sweet Apple Acres has to offer." Suzette gave her a look as she pulled out some of the Northeast fields apples from her satchel. 'Yep' was not readily in her vocabulary, nor did she condone using such language in her new restaurant. This was to be four and a half star minimum in her eyes, and lumping herself in with common carnival fair was no way to get the respect she'd been trying to earn.

Crepe Suzette picked up the apples using her horn so she could continue mixing ingredients to make a light base for the recipes she would make in full later, now that she had the main ingredient to make her entrées. Seeing how Applejack looked, the way her body language gave off an impression, and her crude verbiage, she had low expectations for these apples she provided. Mr. and Mrs. Orange had put in a good word, one that she trusted, so they couldn't be steering her wrong.

It was quite impressive. She decided upon her first few bites, that using these apples in her recipe, she could already achieve a three star rating. A little below expectations, she admitted. Three and a half was what she was aiming for. But these apples put some other, so called 'gourmet' apples to shame. She wasn't sure if, with opening night coming up in nine nights, she could procure anything of greater substance. These would do, and she'd make it worth that lowly earth pony's while.

"Acceptable! If you, Miss Applejack, could supply me a cart full of apples on a weekly, and at times, bi-weekly basis, I can offer you the sum of 68,400 bits for the year." She had 80,000 bits allotted for the apples she would need. The 68,000, she thought, would entice her enough to consider the offer, with her having to make trips over a long distance so frequently. The 400 was for her to buy a decent outfit. This was a high class establishment.

"Wah, wah, wah…" Applejack was stunned by the news. She had thought 25,000. Maybe 40,000 if they were the best apples of the bunch. But that much. Either they were knock your socks off incredible or this pony was dumber than she looked and threw bits around like they was horseshoes. Both seemed possible.

"Don't stammer, it's unbecoming." Sounds like something Rarity would say. "I need a decision, Miss Applejack."

"Crepe Suzette, you got yerself a deal. Put it there partner." Here handshake and 'yer-' again got the worst response from Suzette."

"Dear, if you want to do business here in Manehattan, you are going to have to take some elocution lessons."

"Beg yer pardon, but, uh, can't y'all just hire an electrician to do that." This was beginning to push Suzette over the edge.

"Is that the way all the country ponies speak? I must say, it's awfully crude and, dare I say it, low class." Applejack couldn't take it when Rarity spoke this way, and she darn sure couldn't take it now.

"Well, aren't y'all such a high and mighty. The last time I checked, you ain't some hoity-toity fashion pony or a royal. I hate to break it to ya, sugarcube, but, uh, you're a cook."

That did it.

"A COOK! A COOK! Is that all that you think I am, you good for nothing backwoods pony. I, am a gourmet, and an ARTIST! This to you may look like the most upscale kitchen you and you're dirty hooves have ever walked into but to me this is an art studio, where I make masterpieces that other high class ponies such as myself can enjoy my labors of love!"

As she concluded, she slammed her hooves down, sending her confection sailing across the room. She had worked for two days getting the icing just right, and another two getting the patterns on it just so. Four days of hard work, because this dreadful pony had riled her up.

Applejack, without thinking, whipped her lasso out from her satchel, fastened it and launched towards the pompous cake. She fetched it right before it hit the ground where Gordon had stretched out to catch it. She saved Suzette's precious little pastry. That should put her back in the good graces.

Not really.

"YOU DISRESPECTFUL COWGIRL! It's dirty now. Gordon was about to catch it. Now it's got your filthy rope around it. The deal's off! Take your rotten fruit and leave! LEAVE!" She never had this problem in Ponyville. They at least said thank you when you helped them out.

Applejack, fuming as much as Suzette was screaming, went around back where her apple cart was and bucked it as hard as ever bucked before. All the apples tipped out, into the alley behind the restaurant. It was Crepe Suzette's problem now. She hitched her cart and stormed back to Ponyville.

* * *

><p>Rainbow Dash, having the luxury of wings, was able to sleep in. It had been a few hours since Princess Celestia rose the sun and she was still in the comforts of her bed. She had already gotten the day off from the weather team to allow herself all the time she needed to prepare and have the meeting. She spent that time getting her beauty sleep. There was no reason for her to look disheveled when she went to Manehattan.<p>

Manehattan was a big city, where the ponies conducted themselves in a different manner. They kept up their appearances. At least that's what she gathered from all the times Rarity talked about her dreams of hitting the big city and becoming a star. While Manehattan wasn't Canterlot or Trottingham, it was certainly a step above Ponyville.

She calculated that it would take her about 12 minutes to fly at a comfortable pace to get to Manehattan. A comfortable pace for her was a decent workload for most other pegasi. Rainbow Dash, however, enjoyed speed, and had gotten her normal flying speed up to how fast others would go when they were in a hurry. That meant, getting herself ready through her usual morning routine, stretch, breakfast, brush, comb, she could wake up at 11:30 and still get there with a few minutes to spare.

Arriving a few minutes early would be polite. No need to keep them waiting.

She touched down in Manehattan at 11:57. Just as she had predicted. She wasn't always so interested in math, but when it came to something she really wanted to do, she'd buckle down and figure it out.

The Manehattan Aeronautics Academy was rather large and prestigious looking. The building took up a large chunk of the street it was housed on. As she approached the double doors that made up the entrance to her future, she looked at the buildings that neigh-bored it. On the left of the academy was a bird sanctuary. Fluttershy would get a kick out of this. The window mentioned that it was currently exhibiting toucans from far away, and would be available for viewing for a limited engagement. Weird bird for a short time was all it had to say, she thought. No need to make it overly-sophisticated. On the right was a building that had a big banner on the front that mentioned it was coming soon. But it's already there, she thought. The tables inside led her to believe it was a restaurant of some kind.

The Apple of My Eye? Who names a restaurant that?

She entered the building and stood in the foyer. It was grand. Up above, there were bronze statues of pegasi that contributed to aeronautics hung by strong but nearly transparent support wires, giving the impression that they still flew among them. Pillars of marble extended towards the heavens, a mural painted on the domed ceiling to show where they spent their days. The walls were covered with posts about guest lecturers, meetings to discuss classes or advances in the fields. Papers on pressure drops above the wing and decreasing drag over bodies of water that were stamped with accolades were on display behind a case. The middle of the foyer had another statue of Leonardo Hay Vinci, who developed several of the philosophies that they still taught and the reason schools like this exist.

Egghead would enjoy this, for sure. But seeing all these major accolades, expansive curriculum and extensive history, this was a bigger deal than she imagined.

There was a sign overhead that pointed towards the athletic wing of the school. As she ventured down that hallway and saw the trophies, saying to herself that there were a lot more where that came from now that she's here, some students reacted to her. Two of the colts were mouth agape, while the other colt snickered. The ones that were shocked she could understand; her presence was one that garnered and deserved adoration. The one that snickered she couldn't figure out. Whatever, she thought.

She entered the office of the talent scout that matched the name on the card Twilight gave her. Bryan Ace. It was noon, exactly the time she was supposed to show up. The class bells rang as the clock struck to signal the changing of classes. As Rainbow Dash went in, Bryan looked up from his work tabulating times for other colts he scouted to meet his star that would guide their team to championships and him to comped meals.

"Can I help you, miss?"

"Rainbow Dash, at your service sir."

He could see his career crumbling before his eyes.

"So, how many championships are we gonna win. I'm planning on winning about 6 or 7, maybe a couple of MVPs here and there, but, you know, that might all change if…" Rainbow Dash was gonna mention flaking to join the Wonderbolts if they come calling but was interrupted.

"So you're this Rainbow Dash, huh?"

"Uh, yeah, weren't you paying attention. You are the one that scouted me."

"Ooooh. So you're that pony that flew through the session yesterday? Leaving that rainbow trail and whoosh sound in your wake?"

"Yep, that was me. Sorry about that if I ruined the thing you set up. But hey, me running through it got me here, so I guess everything worked out." She didn't want to tell him that she flew through because she was freaked out her friend might have foreshadowed her demise of cutting her up and baking her. Maybe in her first, no, second championship speech she would mention it.

"Huh, great! If I knew you was a mare I never would've bothered with you." That certainly caught Rainbow Dash by surprise. What would her being a mare have to do with anything? "Now I gotta reset my lines for next season and hope this doesn't get out."

Bryan tried to remember how to pay for a meal. He was gonna need it.

"Wait, why wouldn't you have bothered with me? I don't follow."

"This is an all-colts school Rainbow Dash. We don't take any mares as students, and that includes athletic competitors."

"All-colts? So, this is an all boys school?"

"That's what all-colts means." Now Rainbow understood the expressions by the three colts she saw outside the office. They were surprised by her, all right. Not because of her reputation. Just because there was a hen in the rooster house.

"Wait a minutes. Why can't I join? You got something against mares, do ya?" Rainbow Dash got intimidating with the scout. So what if she was a mare? She was still the best flyer she knew. Why should she be excluded because of her gender.

"It's just tradition." This caught Rainbow Dash off guard. She assumed, from the all-colts comment, that he didn't think mares could compete in athletics. That colts were better. But tradition? What did that have to do with anything.

"Rainbow Dash, we've been an all-colts school for as long as the school has been open. We compete in a league that is all-colts. It's just the way this league of academies was founded. You've heard of the Colt Scouts and Mare Scouts, yes?" She had. "If you were a mare, you wouldn't join the Colt Scouts, would you?" She wouldn't. "I know you're a great flyer, that's why I recruited you. But it's just a tradition that this school has always done. There are all Mare schools I can get in touch with if you want."

Rainbow Dash felt terrible. Her chance to join a premier flying league and compete against other pegasi was dashed for now. She went from being on a team without having to try out, intentionally, to having to go through the real process for a different school. At least she wasn't merely excluded because of her gender.

"Uh, okay. That would be good, too."

"Just stay in touch and I'll keep you posted. Now, you probably don't know this, but I've got quite a reputation around here as an excellent scout that's delivered top talent here for years. Now, word has got out about a Rainbow Dash coming here to join the team, and this little development could damage my career. So, I'll tell the athletic department that you turned us down, not wanting to compete at this time in your life, and I'll tell other all-mare schools about a fantastic prospect. If you just walk out now and pretend this never happened. Okay?" It was an alright deal, not that great, but she came all the way to Manehattan, she was leaving with something of value.

"Uh, yeah, sure. Thanks anyway." As she turned to walk away, her business done, she was overcome with a question that would bother her if she didn't ask.

"Bryan, I gotta ask. If this is an all-colts school, why even invite me down her?"

"To be honest with you, Rainbow Dash, I could've sworn you were a colt."

A colt? Rainbow Dash?

"WHAT? You thought I was a colt?" The shock of it was greater than she experienced in some time.

"Well, you know you were not one of the prospects yesterday, so I didn't have you on record. You flew by so fast, I didn't get that good a look at you. But, the speed, the brashness and attitude in the movements, the way the other colts there seemed in awe, I just naturally assumed you were a colt. I've just never seen any other mares fly with the same attitude as you. You just came across as a colt, that's all."

She had been called a tomboy before, even rough around the edges as far as girly goes. And she would agree. But to be outright called, and confused with, a colt? That really rustled her feathers. Any embarrassment and dashed feelings she suffered during the meeting were immediately overtaken by anger as his statement concluded. She couldn't even bring herself to respond to Bryan as she stormed out of the office, past the colts who were changing classes and exchanging looks about her, out the door and back to Ponyville.

* * *

><p>It was quite a site. Two ponies, one of rainbow mane, the other with her hat, both coming out of their respective appointments at the same time, mad as you'd ever seen a pony. The rainbow one went towards the bird sanctuary, the cowgirl, the optometrist's, not even noticing the other one was there. You'd hardly suspect they were best friends. And yet, the day was not yet over for each of them, as they would each, unbeknownst to the other, embark on a similar path. It was quarter past noon, and it would be a full twenty four hours until they would next see each other eye to eye.<p>

They hadn't recognized each other on that Manehattan street just then.

They wouldn't recognize each other the next time they stood eye to eye.


	3. My Mare Lady

My Mare Lady

Applejack returned to the farm ahead of schedule. In her anger, she paced back at a faster rate than she had anticipated. The empty cart, whose contents were still strewn across the alley behind Crepe Suzette's restaurant, helped her move at a more comfortable speed as well. Arriving back at just past three, she bucked harder than she normally did. The way that Crepe Suzette made her feel, like a simple hick who didn't know how to treat people just because she didn't enunciate or drink tea with her hoof out, translated from emotional distress into her physical outlet. She would buck a tree so hard, not only would all the apples shake from its branches, but several on the surrounding trees would also tumble to the earth from the resulting shockwave. The fact that this increased her work rate did nothing to calm her down.

The bits that she would've earned would have been nice. Having what they normally earn from the farm in 5 months delivered to them in one afternoon would allow them to ease up for the markets around Ponyville. No more rushing to get enough bits to upgrade the farming equipment in time for the last harvest anymore. But she hadn't told anyone else on the farm how much she was set to earn, or even what she expected to come home with. At the end of the day, it was important to the farm, no doubt, but they always made ends meet and would again this year. But pride is more important than bits.

She knew she wasn't a debutant. She was who she was. A member of the Apple family. A hard-worker. A respected pony amongst her own kind here in Ponyville. No city pony should make her feel this way. But something about her words stung. This wasn't Rarity giving her some good natured ribbing about how she's unsophisticated for her regal tastes. This was someone in the business world.

If she wanted to get more contracts to expand the business for the farm, she would need to branch out beyond Ponyville. Granny Smith still needs that new hip, and it would be nice if she could get it within her lifetime. Big Macintosh works himself to the point of exhaustion and injury sometimes, and it would be nice being able to have enough stability financially for him not to do that every year. Apple Bloom, is she follows in the family hoof-steps, would also be bucking apples all the live long day. As much as her lil sis annoyed her at times, she didn't want her to go through as many hardships working the farm as she had. If any of these were to occur, the farm would need to earn more bits, and the market in Ponyville, while covered almost exclusively by Sweet Apple Acres, was beginning to become saturated.

Applejack knew how things worked in the business world. Crepe Suzette would be talking to other cooks around Manehattan, and it would be hard for her to get any new contracts with those places if Suzette is as respected as she and the Oranges boasted. Manehattan begets Fillydelphia, Fillydelphia begets Hooveston, so on and so on. It was hard enough selling apples at the Grand Galloping Gala, it would be much harder if she had a bad reputation among the social elite of Equestria. From there, it trickled down, and soon every other little town would want nothing to do with the bad business practices of Sweet Apple Acres. Ponyville would be there only outlet, and it wouldn't be fair to Apple Bloom and all the fillies that come after her to be cursed with running a farm that can't do business. She and Big Macintosh had worked hard during their days to get the farm up to respectable status and able to be courted by fancy places such as Manehattan. It would be a shame if all the hard work they did was cancelled by one blown interview, and Apple Bloom was stuck in an endless cycle of working on a farm that couldn't ever see a heap of progress.

It was a pessimistic thought, she knew, but that didn't make it any less possible.

She was about to go to the South fields and see what was going on with the trees there that made them all produce such bad crops when Apple Bloom interrupted her.

"Applejack! Applejack! You got a letter from Manehattan!" Applejack didn't think it could be anything but bad news.

"Ah'm not in the mood for reading letters right now, lil sis. Ah gotta go figure out what was wrong with them there trees in the South field that be giving us such a bad turnover."

"But Applejack, it's from that place you just visited." They sent her a letter already?

"When did it get here?"

"About a half hour ago when you were moving carts to the apple cellar and muttering something stuffing some crepe suzettes in an oven. That one funny mailmare stopped by, saying it was a special delivery straight from Manehattan."

"Special delivery from Manehattan, huh?" It was either the Oranges or Suzette. If she weren't apologizing, Applejack wanted nothing to do with her.

"Yep, and a bunch of other letters. Do you know a Jalapeno, Chestnut or Cee-lo?" They both shrugged, realizing that if she was delivering the mail, they were lucky to get the one addressed to them. And postmarked the day it was sent, not two years ago like that one time. Applejack wondered that if delivering mail was her special talent, what did she do in other aspects of her life? Apple Bloom dusted the crumbs off the letter, shook out the saliva, as she had delivered it in her mouth, and read aloud to her big sis.

"Thoughtless Country Pony…" Applejack already started getting ornery, "…As it turns out, Ah am not able to secure the use of another farm's apple supply in time for our grand opening. Come back tomarra with another supply to replace the one you left in the alley. For your services, Ah will provide 35,000 bits for the year. And do act dignified this time, or the deal is off forever. Ah don't make the same mistake twice. Caugi Frusite?" Apple Bloom struggled to read her signature, but the rest came in clear as day to Applejack.

No sorry. No please. Not to mention the new contract was almost half of what she originally offered. She should have stopped listening after the first three words. But Apple Bloom seemed intrigued by the amount of bits that was offered, only because she didn't know the original.

"35,000 BITS! Applejack, you have to take her up on her offer. Do you know how much good this will do for the farm?" Applejack knew that even 35,000 bits was good enough to justify going back. The amount she had just bucked out of anger constituted close to a cart full. The pessimism still played in her head, and the look in the eyes of her lil sis, who she didn't want to end up in a dead end position, made her consider swallowing her pride and making the most of this second chance.

"Ah'll take it, lil sis." She said begrudgingly. Apple Bloom ran off to tell Granny Smith and Big Macintosh about the deal, but Applejack had to reread the letter for the part she hated to read. 'And do act dignified this time…' What in the hay did that mean? She acted dignified throughout the meeting, until that prissy lil good-for-nothing got all high and mighty on her. '…or the deal is off forever.' But the way her kin was acting reassured her that she can't mess this one up again.

It wasn't what she thought was dignified. It was what Crepe Suzette, a silver spoon in mouth, gussied up lil frou-frou pony thought dignified meant. Manehattan dignified. There was only one pony she knew of in Ponyville that could help her attain that level of poshness by tomarra. She would have to swallow her pride when going back to meet her, but she'd get started by visiting Carousel Boutique.

Yesterday was a lot of traveling and mingling with the upper crust of Trottingham. Today, Rarity was back doing what had got her there. As she was finishing a new gown for a possible client at one of Trottingham's shops, her best friend came in and asked an unusual favor, in a manner that suited her personality.

"Um, Rarity…if you don't mind, could you please make me a scarf that goes with this hat?" Fluttershy, during her busy day of tending to several animals, took in and got Lyra and Bon-Bon's pet parrot back to health. It was the third time in as many weeks. First, there parrot had a hurt wing, so she put it in a cast to let it heal. Next week, the bird hurt its head while trying to fly with the healing wing, so she put its head in a cast. Yesterday, it had hurt its stomach while trying to fly with the healing wing(it had forgotten after hitting its head) and she gave it some medicine. The two were so thankful of Fluttershy for constantly healing their parrot on a regular basis that they gave her a top hat Lyra had bought in Canterlot. They said it was the least they could do. Now Fluttershy needed to accessorize.

"Oh, of course, deary. As long as it's not socks! I'm making Pinkie Pie a new pack because she's worn through the ones I made for her before I left for Trottingham. The last I time I saw her with them they had burn marks all along the pattern I had sown in. I swear to you, I think she confuses them with oven mitts."

"Oh, I still have the pack you made for me last winter. They're soooooo cozy. I wear them when I sleep so I can stay warm."

"Well, at least someone uses them as they were designed."

Applejack knew this wasn't going to be easy, but she gritted her teeth and walked through the door to Rarity's dressing room.

"Hey, Rarity. How's it going?"

"Oh, Applejack, I didn't expect to see you back so soon. I heard you had to visit Manehattan for business."

"Oh, isn't Manehattan wonderful this time of year. Did you see the bird sanctuary? I'd really like to go see the toucans before they leave."

"Well, eh, Ah didn't see no birds this afternoon, but business didn't exactly go so well. Ah met this obnoxious pony named Crepe Suzette, and…"

"HUH! CREPE SUZETTE! Oh, I've been trying to get a reservation at her new gourmet for as long as I've heard about it, through the grapevine, of course. Any pony who's any pony is going to be there opening night. Applejack! Do, you, have an in with her! Oooo! You have to get me a table there. To dine with the crème de la crème of Manehattan."

"Not to burst your perfect little bubble her of this pony, but she was downright rude to me when Ah delivered there this afternoon. We when our separate way…" Rarity began deflating, "…but she offered me a chance to still get the contract to deliver to her." Rarity perked back up.

"Oh, my. Are you going to take it Applejack? I mean, after she was rude to you?"

"Yes she is! Whatever she has to do she will! And we are going to help her, no matter what!" Rarity still had a shot and she was going to take it.

"Actually Rarity, that's why Ah came to see you. Crepe Suzette said that she'll consider the contract if I can act dignified." Gulp. "Rarity, can y'all make me into a dignified lady?"

"Pfffft. HAHAHAHAHA! I'm sorry Applejack, but I really needed a good laugh after all the work I've done all day. HAHAHA, huh. Now tell me, what is it do you need?" There was no way Applejack, someone who denounced everything fashion, drank her tea with a straw and wanted to wear galoshes to the most formal party of the year, would come in and ask seriously about becoming ladylike.

"Ah'm serious here Rarity. As much as Ah hate acting, well, like you, getting this contract could help Sweet Apple Acres be financially secure for some time. Ah already messed up once before, but for my kin, Ah'd do anything. Even, if it means, dressing all frou-frou and stuff." Rarity knew that Applejack couldn't feign sincerity. She didn't talk like this unless she meant it. But she still didn't think this would ever happen.

"Well, this isn't something I'd ever thought you'd say. I'm not one to shy away from a challenge. And if this works, hehe, I can tell Crepe Suzette herself that I turned plain old Applejack into a sophisticated lady, the belle of the ball."

"Y'all willin' to help me or not?" Applejack had enough of this cluttering of words by these hoity-toity types. Just say what you mean already.

"I accept. Fluttershy, are you willing to join in? I don't think we can do this alone."

"Oh, of course. I'll help you in any way I can."

"Good, because this could take awhile." Rarity began to draw the curtains, dim the lights and add the dramatic atmosphere. "Applejack, this isn't going to be easy, and this is probably not going to be fun for you. But, under my tutelage, you'll be able to walk next to me and any other socialite pony as an equal. You'll be royal, charming, dashing, dapper even…"

"Can we get started or what?"

"Oh, you spoil sport. Fluttershy, get me a book and some lace. Applejack, stand up straight. I'll put a kettle of tea on. This project could take all night."

Twilight Sparkle knew was caught with her hooves in the cookie jar.

"Oh, Rainbow Dash, uh, the contractor pony looked at the wall over there and said that it was, uh, coming apart too. Ehhehe. And for only 500 hundred bits more, which was more than enough after we finished the bake sale, he said that he could do it relatively quickly. Hehehe. So, it's not so much a little gift for myself, but for the community as a whole, since the library can now stand for much longer. Hehehehehe."

After giving the contractor pony the bits that would pay for the refurnishing after the bake sale, he said he would be able to start first thing in the morning. Looking at what she had given him, he mentioned that for only 500 bits more, he could tear out one of the walls, build it back a few feet, and allow more room for a larger bookcase. The idea of a substantial number of more books peaked Twilight's interest. She immediately said yes and began prancing about like Pinkie Pie. She handed over the extra bits, still with 320 bits leftover as extra from the bake sale, and didn't think twice about the decision. She thought of a little white lie later that night in case any pony asked her about it. The extra bits were technically hers, and if she used it to make the library, well, her library, better, it was for the good of all Ponyville, right?

Spike was away visiting relatives now in Fillydelphia, after being in Canterlot for two days to attend to business and a party for a dragon friend. She wasn't expecting company the next day. She thought that she could get away with this without any pony finding out she gave herself a little kickback. She did enough for the community; organizing Winter Wrap-Up, fighting that one dragon, fending off an Ursa Minor, soothing the chimera. It was time she got a little something more than a pat on the back. But when Rainbow Dash came back from her visit to the academy so soon, she was caught off guard.

Rainbow Dash didn't even notice Twilight spouting off. Her anger had turned back into embarrassment. As much as she hated being called a colt, she could now see it plain as the nose on her face. She didn't exactly come off girly. She had an attitude and was cocky and a bit more comfortable racing through the skies than having tea with her gal pals. She didn't fit the mold for a mare, and it started to show off on that trip. Her embarrassment turned to paranoia, as she wondered if her friends could see it but were afraid to tell her. That every new pony she would meet would have that suspicion that she really was a colt. She couldn't imagine if news of that made it to the Wonderbolts. She'd never be able to show her face around them. She needed help, to make a change, and had come to the smartest pony she knew.

"Rainbow Dash, you're back from your trip! How did it go? You make team captain yet? Hehehe. The way that the scout was talking about you, they might as well name the team after you." She hadn't realized that when ponies come in pouting and generally looking glum, things didn't work out to well.

"I didn't make the team."

"What happened? Were you too good for them or something?"

"It was an all-colts school, and an all-colts team."

"You're not a colt, though. Why would they invite you to join a team that was."

"They thought I was a colt."

"They thought you were a colt! That's one of the silliest things I ever heard." Pinkie Pie put her two bits in. She wasn't in the room two seconds ago, and all of a sudden she materialized right before their eyes.

"AHHHHH! Pinkie Pie, where did you come from?"

"The 4th wall."

"THE WHA?"

"Your 4th wall was broken, so I just came right through." She motioned her hoof towards the giant hole in the wall the contractor had made. Twilight hadn't numbered the walls of the library, but apparently Pinkie Pie had.

"I want you two to tell me the truth. Am I 'girly?'"

"Why of course you are, Dashie. You're a girl. That makes you girly in my book." Pinkie Pie just didn't understand where Dash was coming from.

"Oh Rainbow Dash. You do have your times when you come across positively 'girly,' but for the most part, you act your own way, which I feel is great."

"It just hurt, though. To act like I do and be called a tomboy is one thing. That implies girly but still tough. But to be outright called a colt, well…You're my friends, and you've known me for a long time. These were ponies outside of the usual crowd, and they told it like it is." She didn't want to ask if they thought the same when they first met her. She couldn't take it right now if her best friends thought she was colt the first time they saw her.

"Rainbow Dash, I hate to see you this way. Whatever that pony said, you shouldn't take to heart. He didn't know you, we do, and we know how terrific you are."

"Yeah, Dashie, and if there's anything we can do to help, we'll be more than happy to." It was an offer Pinkie Pie thought would mean throwing a party, or baking again, or playing a prank on that meanie mean pony who hurt her Dashie. What she requested was like a party in its own right.

"Could you two help me act more, 'girly?'" She might not like acting that way, but she figured if she ironed out some of her rough patches and smoothed a few edges, she wouldn't have that happen to her anymore. She would still be herself, just with a little polish.

"You mean like a makeover? That would be super and terrific and wonderful and…" Pinkie bounced all around the library at the thought of giving a makeover.

"Well, if this is what you really want, I'd be happy to help you bring out your feminine side. Now, I just need a book to help us."

"Right here, Twilight." Pinkie Pie threw her the exact book that Twilight needed almost as soon as she mentioned she needed a book. Twilight didn't know if it was her Pinkie Sense or she rearranged books while she wasn't looking, but she'd have to ask Pinkie to teach her how she does that.

"Ah, here we go. Marvelous Miraculous Mares: Freeing Your Fabulous Femininity in as Few as Five Steps. Are you sure you're ready for this, Rainbow Dash?"

"Let's do this." Rainbow Dash was prepared to go through with it.

"Alright. And with only five steps, this shouldn't take too long at all."

**M.**A.R.E.S.

M-Motion-"A mare's gait shows dignity, grace and sophistication"

Rainbow Dash would have to be grounded, so Pinkie Pie tied her wings together with jump rope. Pinkie hopped everywhere she went, so Twilight would be the model Dash would take after. Twilight read and found that a mare was supposed to walk with her knees up, each step being light as a feather, slow and elegantly. She tried to copy from the book as best as she can. It was as if she was learning how to walk properly and then teach the same thing to Dash immediately following. Rainbow Dash tried her best, but kept making creaks in the floor as she stamped her hooves down on occasion and dragged her hooves as she walked.

Applejack had the same problems, but Rarity, who knew how a dignified mare was supposed to act form experience, was her teacher. Applejack would switch between a lazy stroll and a light gallop every time Rarity insisted she slow down or speed up her gait, which she also had to explain meant walk. Applejack dragged her hooves as well, particularly during her lazy stroll, with Fluttershy being encouraging and helping her walk on air. Rarity kept demonstrating her strut, but Applejack couldn't quite keep her knees up at that level every time she took a step. She didn't feel it was quite natural. Then again, none of this was to her.

M.**A.**R.E.S.

A-Attitude-"A mare is able to own whatever room she waltzes into."

Rainbow Dash sure had attitude, but Twilight and Pinkie tried to get her to tone it down a little. Dash was the type to accept a challenge at the mere mention of something she could outdo someone in, and they tried to get her to hold back. Pinkie made a bunch of suggestions of things she thought Rainbow Dash couldn't do, and Dash had to keep her composure. It was hard, but by the fifth time she got through all of Pinkie's challenges without getting in her face. They tried to get her to realize that attitude was more about how she handled herself and not how she showed off to every pony that threw down a gauntlet.

Applejack had her simple ways, which Rarity had to mold into a dignified upper class demeanor. She was not used to walking into a room and being the center of attention, which Rarity tried her best to fix. She taught her poise, how to turn her chin up and proper body language to convey that she was regal. Applejack had a hard enough time re-learning how to walk before, now she had to do that and act a certain way while she did it? For all the trouble, and yelling by Rarity to do it better, she was going through, Suzette better up her offer closer to the original. Acting as foolish as she thought she was deserved a hefty raise of bits.

M.A.**R.**E.S.

R-Righteousness-"A mare is always putting others before herself"

Rainbow Dash was the most loyal of her friends. Applejack was the most hard-working. Neither had trouble in this area, so they moved on quite nicely. Both teams agreed that the little break this step allowed was well deserved.

Around this time, Apple Bloom made her way into Carousel Boutique to see if Sweetie Belle had a book she could borrow when she peaked into Rarity's room and saw Applejack. She was strutting around, somewhat, like Rarity usually does, but with books balanced on her head, and stood with different body language while Fluttershy took measurements for what she heard was going to be a gown. She then heard Rarity instructing her on how to properly pronounce some words, and Applejack was doing her best to say them just like her. Apple Bloom didn't know what to think. Applejack was always proud of whom she was, and she knew that the two of them didn't exactly agree on a lot of things, but now Applejack was trying to act like Rarity, who Applejack considered the definition of a city pony. This, combined with the letter earlier, made Apple Bloom think that they had to act dignified now. She thought Applejack was ashamed of herself for whatever happened in Manehattan, and now they shouldn't act like themselves anymore. She ran home.

M.A.R.**E.**S.

E-Elocution-"A mare's tongue is as polished as her coat."

Rainbow Dash had to have the concept explained to her, as she could have sworn elocution meant the lights turn on. Pinkie Pie thought it would be easier to teach Rainbow Dash how to say certain words if they sang them. Dash and Twilight disagreed with her, but that didn't stop Pinkie Pie from singing all the words that Twilight taught her. She tried to run through each word pretty fast, ending up shoving a bunch of letters together that needed to be stretched out. Dash was a pony who did everything fast; flying, running, talking, it didn't matter, as long as she was winning. This might have taken the longest for Rainbow Dash to get correct.

Rarity almost began tearing her mane out. Words like 'y'all' and 'tomarra' and 'reckon' began getting on her nerves as she struggled to get Applejack to form the language of a lady. Her drawl wasn't cutting it. Fluttershy stepped in and treated Applejack somewhat like one of her animals that had a mouth injury. She went as far as holding Applejack's face and moving her mouth muscles to form the words a few times before Applejack got the gist of it. Rarity also had to inform Applejack of the proper terms for some restaurant items so that she wouldn't incur Suzette's wrath again. She couldn't wait till this was over so her mouth could go back to forming words the way she wanted it to.

M.A.R.E.**S.**

S-Style-"A mare is able to take any garment and make it her own"

Rainbow Dash knew she was going to hate this. Twilight didn't have much fashion experience. Neither did Pinkie Pie, who was still wearing her scorched Cutie Mark socks. What they did have, however, was an old dress in Twilight's closet that sort of resembled the one in the book. They would have to make some modifications to it. Rainbow Dash didn't really feel like letting anyone else know about what had happened in Manehattan and why she needed a dress, so visiting Rarity was out. The book did have a guide to how the dress was made, so Twilight and Pinkie Pie did their best to make it fit Rainbow Dash. She wasn't a size 2 like the book had, so they made some provisions based on her size.

Applejack hated this part most of all. Rarity and Fluttershy insisted that if she came all this way, going through gait and attitude and elocution lessons, she might as well go all the way and look the part. Rarity had made a dress for Applejack in the past for the pipe dream that she should ever go this route, or could convince her to actually wear something she wasn't supposed to get muddy. But that was some time ago, and the dress was slightly tighter than she had thought would happen. The tightness did, however, force Applejack to stand upright. It might not have been ideal for either party, but for the one day Applejack needed it, she might as well go ahead. She just hoped that Suzette was joking when she said at the restaurant that she'd need to deliver every time looking sophisticated.

Rarity was right, that it took all night to turn Applejack into a lady. Twilight was surprised when she finished with Rainbow Dash and saw the sun in the sky in the west. She could've sworn it was in the east the last time she looked, meaning that it had taken all night to work with Rainbow Dash and make her girly.

Rainbow Dash wanted to go out right away and show off to everyone what she had become. Rarity told Applejack that before she can mingle with Crepe Suzette again, she must mingle with the townsfolk to see if her transformation took hold.

Out into Ponyville they were unleashed. From Twilight's library: Rainbow Dashing. From Carousel Boutqiue: Dapperjack. Ponyville didn't quite know what hit it.

12:00 Noon

Scootaloo was busy digging in dirt looking for treasure, trying to earn her cutie mark that way. The socks she was wearing didn't help. They weren't very well made, since Sweetie Belle borrowed some of her sister's fabric to make her some. They were supposed to be modeled after Rainbow Dash, but Sweetie didn't have any orange or purple, Scootaloo's colors, on her, so they were two colors short of a rainbow. One sock also extended all the way to her torso, as Sweetie cut the fabric much too long. But, if she could show them off to Rainbow Dash, she didn't mind.

She heard some pony mention her name and stopped everything to look up, but only saw another blue pony with rainbow mane in a dress that Rainbow Dash wouldn't go near. She looked like a sissy. Not like her hero at all. Then came the shock.

"Yes, Rarity." Scootaloo felt like she just got bucked by Big Macintosh. She answered, meaning that she was Rainbow Dash. Her hero, the toughest pony in Ponyville, the greatest flyer to come out of Cloudsdale, was wearing a dress and strutting around like a dainty girly girl. Her mouth dropped. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head. She keeled over, her head making a giant hole in the ground where she hit.

"Ra-ra-r-r-Rainbow DASH! That dress is in style, your hooves look polished, your mane is elegant! Woohoohoo! Whatever happened, it's a change for the better." Rarity was very pleased to have another pony share her taste for fancy living. She wasn't sure exactly what had happened with her, but she wasn't going to question it.

"Oh, my, you look amazing. I, I don't think I've ever seen you so gorgeous." Fluttershy couldn't help but compliment her.

"Why thank you, ladies, and may you have a lovely day." Rainbow Dash felt like she passed her biggest test by having Rarity think she was girly. Fluttershy had also never complimented her like that before. So this was how show ponies felt all the time.

She liked it. A lot.

12:05

Dapperjack, even without Rarity's insistence, had managed to keep her head up and hooves from dragging. Her nagging was that bad. The jewelry given for her to wear was what Rarity insisted was a way to separate her from the other debutant ponies, her little idiosyncrasy that could go on to be her calling card. She also noticed that Rarity had the dress hemmed so that any gait that wasn't the way Rarity had drilled into her would cause her to slip and tear the dress. She wouldn't mind doing that in celebration, but she needed to keep it up a little while longer.

"Applejack? Is that you?" Twilight was shocked to see Applejack without her normal hat, and in a dress, and with her mane styled, and her hooves manicured, and, well, just everything about Applejack seemed to confuse Twilight. This wasn't her.

"Good afternoon to you, Miss Twilight. I, send my condolences that I wasn't able to attend the bake sale you and Miss Pinkie Pie had put together. Do be a, dear, and give me a ring the next time you girls get together."

"HuuuuuuuuuuuH!" Twilight and Pinkie Pie's expressions matched as they heard Dapperjack speak. She didn't say 'y'all' or 'Ah' instead of 'I' and used words they only really ever heard Rarity use when speaking. They weren't sure what had happened to their friend, but they sure were going to find out.

12:10

"Rarity, what happened to Applejack?" Twilight demanded an answer!

"Did you see her? How was she? Elegant? Devine? Tell me, I can't take the suspense."

"She was all fancy-pants Applejack, not like the regular Applejack. Not saying the regular Applejack isn't fancy, but, well, did you see her?"

"Yes, she wasn't quite like Applejack at all. What did you do to her?"

"Why, Fluttershy and I helped her. We took our simple, country Applejack and unleashed Dapperjack. This might rank right up there with my most impressive work."

"Applejack came by Rarity's shop and wanted to be like a city pony to impress a client in Manehattan. It took a lot of work, but, well, I think we can call it a success."

12:11

"Yes, and I would love to take in more praise, but I'm still puzzled by what happened to Rainbow Dash. She was positively dashing, but all the times I tried to get her into my dress shop for a makeover she declined. Who could've gotten her to dress like that if I couldn't?"

"We did, Rarity." Pinkie Pie didn't even need to think twice. It wasn't like it was a secret.

"You two? But, but, how?"

"Rainbow Dash wanted to bring out her girly side, so we found a book and gave her a makeover last night, and into this morning."

"That's uncanny. Rarity and I stayed up all night working with Applejack."

"Why, if we had known Rainbow Dash was in need of a feminine touch, we would've happily offered our services."

12:12

"If we had known you two were working with Applejack, we would've lent a hoof. Or at least our book. Marvelous Miraculous Mares: Freeing your…"

"…Freeing your Fabulous Femininity in as Few as Five Steps! I didn't know you had a copy in your library. By the way, Twilight, I regret not helping your bake sale. But, when Trottingham calls, I couldn't turn it down."

"Yes, I'm sorry. But there were just so many animals that needed my attention that day. Did your library get fixed yet?"

12:13

"Yes, dear, how did your library turn out?" Twilight thought she had been found out. She decided just to play it off with a laugh and coy smile before Rarity thankfully changed the subject to Pinkie Pie. "Oh, Pinkie Pie, I have your new socks her in my bag. And please try not to ruin these, at least for a while. I don't mind doing it, but you need to give me some breathing room, dear." The socks she pulled out were of orange and purple cloth, done in a similar manner as Pinkie's previous socks, but with ballet slippers and ribbon as the cutie mark as opposed to the balloons on the last ones.

As she pulled them out of the bag using her horn, and Pinkie Pie was hugging her new sockies, Rarity and Twilight came to a funny realization. They were both unicorns, but through their last night's struggle in turning their respective pony into a lady, neither had utilized it. They both had stupid expressions on their face as they realized their folly and shared a good laugh, a combination of how funny it really was and sleep deprivation.

12:14

The two ponies in question were still giving a preview of their new personas. Rainbow Dashing had passed by several of the shops in town, giving all the owners quite an eyeful of the pony who usually crashed into their windows attempting a new trick, now dolled up. Dapperjack had passed in front of Lyra and Bon-Bon to remark how lovely their bird was, despite still being bandaged up. The two noticed Dapperjack's top hat, noting it was of similar style to the one they had given Fluttershy, and thought the style was catching on in Ponyville. The faithful mailmare, with her distinct eyesight, managed to catch both ponies in her sight simultaneously. This confused her, causing her drop all her mail and fly into a tree.

As the introduction of Rainbow Dashing and Dapperjack caused a noticeable ruckus in Ponyville, there was still one pony each yet to see the transformations. Each other. That changed as they made their way back towards their group of friends, and Rainbow Dashing and Applejack's eyes met.

12:15


	4. Role Reversal

Role Reversal

"Pffffft BAHAHAHAHAHA!" Rainbow Dash and Applejack couldn't help but laugh seeing each other. Rainbow Dash was dolled up and looking positively feminine, while Applejack's outfit was a fashion wonder, complete with top hat and complementing jewelry. It was so out of character for the her, each thought as they laughed like their old selves, completely dropping the accent and elocution they worked through the night to get correct. The sight of the other one was too much. Even a trained actor, had they known how crazy they looked to each other, would have had a hard time keeping it together without bawling and rolling on the ground laughing. O, what a sight it was!

Their friends were shocked. All that hard work they put into getting their friends to look and act girly and upper class, respectively, had seemingly been a waste. Granted, the appearance of each was unexpected to them, too, but they thought they had made great progress. They were laughing in their normal voices, on the ground, getting their dresses dirty, not giving off the attitude or body language they carefully crafted. At this point, they almost figured them to be mare-ionettes, a puppet that was supposed to act and dance the way they pulled the strings. The four of them all experienced simultaneous headaches.

"Applejack, hahaha, do you have any idea how ridiculous you look?" Twilight felt sick, having gone through a whole night of making over Rainbow Dash, and at the first sign of trouble, she completely fell apart. It was like watching a doll she made herself crumble in her hands and all the stuffing come tumbling out.

"Hehehe, me, hehehe, why, Ah don't think any pony could be sillier than y'all look right now?" Rarity could almost scream at hearing Applejack butcher the language she practically drilled into her head in the past day. Fluttershy attempted to calm her down, but even she was a little exasperated at the way that Applejack broke her new demeanor almost immediately.

"Are you kidding me? Do you see the dress you're wearing? Don't show Rarity, she might be applaud you…for wearing such a fashion disaster out in public." Rarity tried to lunge at Rainbow Dash for that insult. Dash didn't know Rarity had made it, but it didn't help her cause. Fluttershy needed assistance from Twilight and Pinkie Pie to hold back the enraged unicorn, who seemed hell bent on getting a piece of Rainbow Dash.

"What Ah'm wearing? Y'all look like you trotted out of some fashion magazine…from the what not to wear page." Twilight began to feel like Rarity. Having the dress that she and Pinkie Pie practically give new life to be mocked as a 'what not to wear?' She wasn't sure what the 'what not to wear' page was, but she knew when she was being made fun of.

"Were you trying to look like one of those frilly ponies? Cause if so, I think whoever dressed you definitely won…last place. Hahahaha." Rarity could barely be held back at this point. She began groaning audibly, with steam flaring from her nostrils. She might have considered it unladylike in retrospect, but while being so openly disrespected by some pony who hadn't the slightest idea what she was opening her big mouth about was an outrage that she wasn't going to take lying down.

"Ah don't know about y'all, but if y'all did just pop right out of the pages of some book, Ah think that book deserves a special place…in a fire. Hehehe." Twilight now needed restraint. Making fun of her first attempts at haberdashery was fine by her, she could take it. But calling the book worthy of being burned? No book deserved that fate.

All the while, Fluttershy was playing peace maker. She didn't take kindly to the comments, particularly those made by Rainbow Dash that seemed to demean all the work they did with Applejack, but seeing how mad Rarity was getting, taking it much worse than her, made Fluttershy want to make sure it didn't turn from verbal jabs to physical ones. Pinkie Pie was at first making eyes and Ooooohing at the comments, before acting like Pinkie Pie and laughing as hard as she could. She didn't think the insults were meant to do harm. They were just being funny. Well, at least funny to her.

"Applejack, why are you dressed like that? Did you lose a bet or something?"

"Nah, Ah just have a meeting with this awful city pony who insisted Ah dress up like some doll and act all ritzy, or she wouldn't take mah business."

"Hahaha. Really?"

"Yep, Ah had a meeting with her yesterday in Manehattan at The Apple of My Eye, and wouldn't y'all know it she was the most dog-gone rude thing whatever walked on four legs."

"Wait! You were in Manehattan yesterday, at The Apple of My Eye?"

"Yessir."

"That's unbelieveable. I was there yesterday, too. I was in the flight academy next door."

"Ya were? What for?"

"They wanted me to join their flight team."

"That's good news. Did y'all accept?"

"Nah, turns out it was an all-colts team."

"Well then what in the hay did they invite you all the way out there for?"

"Hahaha, they thought I was a colt."

"They thought YOU was a colt. Well if that ain't one of the most outrageous things Ah've ever heard in all my days."

"Yeah, I guess it was pretty funny, now that you mention it."

"Well, especially dressed up like that, how they mistake y'all for anything but a filly?"

"The way you're dressed right now, how could they think you were anything but a ritzy, upper class, stuck up city pony?"

"Nah, the way yer dressed is much sillier."

"No, the way you're dressed right now is way more ridiculous."

"Well, Ah reckon there's only one way to solve this here little tiff."

"Yeah, let's go by that shop." Rainbow Dash and Applejack maneuvered over towards Lily's shop to gaze in the window and see their reflections to prove, once and for all, which of them was the worst looking. What they saw in the window, though, made them both consider themselves the loser.

Neither could bring themselves to speak up. Having seen what they looked like, outside the context of the makeover, was as shocking as the town seeing them with the makeovers. Applejack thought she looked like the epitome of everything she hated about Manehattan: frou-frou and flash without any substance. Rainbow Dash took one look at her girly new reflection and hoped the window would break so she didn't have to look anymore.

"Well, Rainbow Dash, Ah guess y'all was right. Ah do look ridiculous."

"No, Applejack, you win. Huh, I'm the one that looks the most like a fool."

"Oh, what in the hay was Ah thinking? Ah shouldn't have to act a certain way to get some fancy pony to accept my business. Ah ain't going back to Crepe Suzette. Let's see her try to run her little shop without this thoughtless country pony's help."

"Yeah, big deal I don't act all 'girly.' I'm a lot better than those stuck up Manehattenite colts. I don't need them to judge me."

"Right on Rainbow Dash."

"You go Applejack."

As Applejack and Rainbow Dash began to remove their outfits that didn't reflect who they truly were inside, Rarity could be heard collapsing. All that hard work she put into turning Applejack into Dapperjack was all for naught. Twilight, despite being sleep deprived and a little peeved still at Applejack's remark about the book, was glad that they were embracing what made them special. Pinkie Pie smiled and Fluttershy gave her little nod of approval.

As the two were removing their fancy get-ups, Applejack could hear a familiar sound around the corner of the shop. As she walked over, she saw exactly what she thought it was; Apple Bloom falling down. She'd heard it enough over on the farm to have in engrained in her head by now. Except that Apple Bloom had a book on her head and a makeshift dress on.

"Apple Bloom. Now just what are y'all trying to do?"

"Huh, Ah'm trying to act like a sophisticated pony, just like you wanna be."

"Sophisticated, what gave you the idea Ah want y'all to be sophisticated?"

"Ah saw you last night at Carousel Boutique, walking and talking like a Rarity. And after seeing that, Ah reread that letter from that Caugi Frusite, where she called you a thoughtless country pony and to act dignified. You don't normally care what those snooty types think about you, but now you were trying to be one of them. Ah thought you were ashamed of the way we live all of a sudden, and that we should try to act more graceful like."

Applejack couldn't believe it. She didn't think for one second what her transformation was gonna do to her family. She remembered how Granny Smith and Big Macintosh felt when she went off to Manehattan as a filly, when she thought she belonged in the city among the pony elite, like the Oranges. They were afraid they were losing her from the farm, but also that she was rejecting their lifestyle. She remembered how grateful they were when she regained her senses and came back to her true calling, growing up to be the mare she is today.

Rainbow Dash caused her to find her true calling on Sweet Apple Acres, and now Rainbow Dash had made her see the error in trying to return to those awful time in her life. It seemed that every time she made the mistake to try to be someone who she wasn't, Rainbow Dash was there to rein her in.

"Apple Bloom, if Ah made you think any less of yourself, then Ah'm truly, truly sorry. Y'all should be happy with yourself the way that you are. And no pony, especially Crepe Suzette, should make you feel otherwise." Apple Bloom knew she had heard her big sis mention crepe suzettes before, but she couldn't remember the context.

"Good, cause Ah hate wearing this dress and balancing these books on mah head. Ah don't understand how these frilly fillies can do it."

"Me neither, lil sis. Why, Ah'm surprised Ah actually let Rarity go through with all the stuff she did. Ah don't ever want to want to remember how to pronounce 'fwa-graw' ever again."

"Yeah, and it didn't get me a cutie mark anyway. Do you think any of those city ponies had to balance books before they got their cutie marks?"

"Who knows, lil sis." Applejack took a look at the book Apple Bloom was using in her walking attempts. It was a copy of something called Marvelous Miraculous Mares: Freeing Your Fabulous Femininity in as Few as Five Steps. It was stuffed to the brim with what she guess was 500-600 pages of how girls should act, which she thought was poppy-cock. Why Apple Bloom would start off walking with a book of that volume was beyond her, but at least that's over with.

As she was doing that, Rainbow Dash heard a bunch of fillies laughing and name calling. She trotted over, still with some make up clinging to her face, to find the source of it. She saw the fillies laughing and pointing at one filly in particular. That filly had a makeshift dress on, heels that were way too big for her hooves, and what looked like clown make-up on. She thought she looked familiar, and then the name calling let her know.

"Scootaloo, nice dress." "Yeah, Scootaloo, you should be so embarrassed." "Did a clown put your make-up on, Scootaloo." "Hey Scootaloo, I thought you wanted to be like Rainbow Dash. What happened?" "Yeah, Scootaloo, did you stop wanting to be like her." "You quit trying to be her, Scootaloo, what are ya, chicken?" "Buuuuck-buck-buck-buck"

Scootaloo was still hoping this was a nightmare, having seen her hero prancing around in girly outfits with make-up on and bows in her mane. If this is what Rainbow Dash was doing now, she decided that she should try out acting like her. She was still her hero. Scootaloo had received taunts from classmates before for wanting to emulate Rainbow Dash so much. But trying to take those taunts in a makeshift dress and make-up, doing her best on short notice to copy her hero's new look, hurt so much inside.

Rainbow Dash couldn't stand for this. Even though that little orange thing was always cramping her style with her incessant following and worshipping the air she pushed with her wings, all she was doing was trying to be like her. Dash knew that any young flyer would dream of having her style, her attitude and her flying ability. This kid was just looking up to her, even in her weakest moments of letting other ponies define what she should be. Rainbow Dash would not stand to see Scootaloo be abused for follwing her bad example.

"So what if she's dressing like this, huh?" Rainbow Dash had forgotten to remove her make-up, so she was back to normal sans a done up face, which caught the fillies that poked fun at Scootaloo off guard. "We might dress like this, but we're still two of the toughest pegasi you'll ever come across. I dare you to find one pegasus that can hang with us, colt or mare. Come on Scootaloo, let's go."

Scootaloo's eyes lit up for her hero, Rainbow Dash, to come to her side and defend her. The other fillies were left speechless, that Rainbow Dash would be wearing make-up and lending a wing to Scootaloo. As they trotted away, Scootaloo gloating back towards her detractors, she only wished that she had still worn her Rainbow Dash socks to show her.

Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo met up with Applejack and Apple Bloom. The two crusaders looked at each other with puzzled looks. As the two were discarding their makeshift dresswares, they traded barbs.

"You tried dressing up too?"

"Yeah, it didn't really go so well."

"Me neither. Did y'all get a cutie mark?"

"HUH! No, you?"

"Nah."

"Good, I don't wanna get my cutie mark for something lame like this."

"Me neither, wanna go try brain surgery?"

"Yeah! Hey, where's Sweetie Belle?" As Scootaloo finished, Sweetie Belle came trotting up behind them, wearing another makeshift dress and a generous portion of her sister's make-up, very little of it in the appropriate places. They seemed to think alike. She glanced at Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, both of whom were out of their get-ups and back to their respective selves, and took a few seconds to register what was going on.

"Oh, are we not trying to earn our cutie marks for being classy anymore?"

"Yeah, we stopped that. Unless y'all got yer cutie mark."

"Nope, I got nothing."

"That's okay, wanna go do brain surgery with us?"

"Ooooo, that's sounds like fun."

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS BRAIN SURGEONS! YAY!"

The crusaders ran off to continue their crusades of getting their cutie marks. Rainbow Dash and Applejack worried about what they were trying to do, but figured that they wouldn't get very far. The two friends, who over the past twenty four hours had gone from anger to despair to trying desperately to be something they weren't to realizing the error of their ways through each other, could only sigh, breathing in relief that the previous day's events were now in the past. Applejack would love to never hear 'Crepe Suzette' again, Rainbow Dash to not hear from the Manehattan Aeronautics Academy. Both agreed they were infinitely better the way they were and thanked each other for setting them straight. Their four friends were peeved that their hard work didn't pan out, but were happy their friends were back to normal. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were removing the last of the garments and dressings that tied them to their fancy bizarro selves, Rainbow Dashing and Dapperjack, when they spied the Cutie Mark Crusaders with the faithful mailmare, drawing a circle around her head and getting a saw ready. They ran off to stop them, as Twilight made her way back to her refurnished new library. Spike was back as well, and before he could get Twilight to spill on the new wall, she had him take down a letter.

Dear Princess Celestia,

Two of my friends, Rainbow Dash and Applejack, are not what you would call 'girly.' They were made to believe that they had to act and look a certain way just because they are girls. But, they realized they are perfect the way they are, and that no pony should ever make them feel ashamed for being who they are inside. They may not be 'girly' but that's what makes them great and some of my best friends, and I wouldn't have them any other way.

Your Faithful Student,

Twilight Sparkle

Princess Celestia read the letter, enjoying Twilight's lessons as always, while relaxing with a light snack. She took a sip of her tea and let out a slight burp.

"Oh, hmm hmm hmm. It seems I have a little bit of Rainbow Dash in me," she thought to herself while continuing to eat her cupcake.


End file.
